Origins of Light and Dark
by Cosmic-Phoenyx
Summary: When Beltino's research team stumbles upon a frozen avian deep in Fichina's ice caves, they discover more than what they bargained for. Mainly OC based.
1. Chapter 1

An eerie echo crept through the halls of the Cornerian Orbital Gate. Even during the busiest hour of the day, the crew felt uneasy going about their everyday duties. As Beltino Toad, the facility's Research Director, shuffled down to the research lab, he received a chill up his spine. The small toad stopped for a moment, looking around at the personnel carrying on with their duties, trying to see if they shivered just as he did. He stood in the middle of the hall for a moment, eyeing up each of the crew that passed by. Everyone was focused on their duties, but he could tell they felt anxious. 

Beltino continued his way down to the research lab. Just the day before, a research team working on Fichina reported some abnormal activity a few kilometers away from the base. When the research team reported back, they requested immediate and urgent assistance. Beltino, followed by a few soldiers, were sent to investigate the findings.

When the team had arrived to the site, they were in disbelief. Far from the base, deep into the blizzard and buried within the Fichian ice, lay a woman encased in ice. Her container was clear enough to show that this lady was of an avian race, but she had some unique traits that remained unrecognized. Beltino pondered the possibilities of her condition but first asked a different question.

"How did your censors pick her up? She's completely frozen," he inquired.

"Well sir", a researcher responded, his tone tinted with confusion, "Our scanners were picking up trace amounts of gamma and UV radiation, which lead us deep into this frozen cave. Once we arrived the radiation disappeared, but the scanners started picking up faint brain waves."

Beltino paused for a moment, letting this information sink in; what were they to do with this lady? It was obvious that she was frozen for a reason, but why? Was she dangerous, or was it that somebody had finally discovered the secret to frozen-sleep – stasis? What was with the radiation? He noted the abnormal markings in the ice around the cave. It seemed as though strips of the ice were melted and then frozen again. There was only one thing to do.

"We need to cut her out of there and bring her back to the Orbital Gate," he stated. The crew stood quiet for a moment, then one of the main officers spoke up.

"Is that advisable research director?" he exclaimed, "I mean, she's giving off radiation! And look at her, someone must have frozen in there for a reason...she could be dangerous."

Everyone was muttering and whispering behind Beltino, which annoyed him. He knew the risks but either way she could not stay out here, dangerous or not. What if remnants of the Androssian army found her later and she was indeed dangerous?

He decided to investigate her further. Looking up at her he noticed her eyes were clenched shut, almost like she was in pain before she was frozen. He looked over to where one of her wings was covering her right thigh. Perhaps that's where the pain was sourced? He noted the strange pattern of her tail feathers, and the odd but intricate design under eyes. He thought she was attractive, for someone so different; if it wasn't for her small, sharp beak and the unique traits, he might have mistaken her for a flamingo. Her feathers were, after all various shades of pink. But he would have been very mistaken. She almost looked like a hawk, or a falcon but with added traits. He stopped and scribbled his findings in his booklet and shoved it in his pocket, looking back at the crew and the other researchers.

"I'm well aware of the risks officer, but I'm afraid I've already made my decision. Cut her out of the ice and we will do further analysis on her back at the Gate," he concluded."

The officer grudgingly agreed and the crew went straight to work.

It was seen that Beltino's order made the entire crew anxious, as they struggled to hide their nervousness. He didn't care. He felt he made the right decision. If the crew did not like it they could leave.

Nothing could be worse than the apariods, he thought to himself with a grimace.

He finally made it down to the lab, and approached the main researcher, a husky named Dodge.

"Hey Dodge, what have you found today?" he asked with a friendly tone. The husky chuckled, and turned from his work to face him.

"Nothing new for you today Beltino, but I am to inform you that General Pepper is coming today. He wants to know what's going on."

Before Beltino could reply, the General entered the research lab unannounced. Dodge realized that Beltino was worried, but he understood why. The General descended the stairs towards them, a warm smile across his face.

"Good afternoon gentlemen."

"Good afternoon, Sir," They both replied, saluting the old hound dog.

The General was a highly respected and beloved figure in Lylat. When the General was attacked by the apariods and hospitalized, he received an overwhelming amount of gifts and visitors. This made the him proud, despite his injuries. When he was released from the hospital, he announced he would remain General for another two years, after which he would announce a successor.

He stood with his hands behind his back, and glanced at Beltino.

"Beltino, care to brief me on the situation?"

Beltino nodded, and gestured for them to amble towards the large block of ice that was housing the avian. Streams of chilled air were flowing around it, causing both men to suddenly shiver. General Pepper gazed up at the frozen avian.

"Where did you locate her?" he asked.

"A research team found her on Fichina a few days ago," Beltino reported, "At first we thought that she was of our system, but we found some unusual physical formations. Further analysis has shown that her DNA is not of Lylat origin."

"Where it is from?"

"Unknown, Sir."

"Hm. What have you theorized thus far?"

Beltino swallowed hard. Some predictions were that, whoever she was, she was highly dangerous. Her energy readings were off the chart, which posed questions her level of threat to the Lylat system.

"Her species DNA suggests that she can actively raise her body temperature to extremely high core temperatures. This also suggests that heat is certainly not a weakness, but perhaps a strength. We've also picked up traces of radiation but we have not determined the origin of it."

The General thought for a moment before responding.

"Are you suggesting, Director, that this female avian is a phoenix?" he prodded, an eyebrow raised.

Beltino nodded, "She does suffer from a large wound on her upper right leg," he continued, " but if we were to thaw her, she would require medical attention."

"What is preventing her from melting or blasting her way out of that ice?"

"We are controlling the temperature, it seems that the colder the temperature, the harder it is for her body to raise its temperature. Additionally, she seems to be holding the weapon used to harm her. Scans of the object shows a super-cooling agent that spreads quickly through the veins and cardiovascular system. This would have traveled throughout her body within seconds, immobilizing her despite her removing it. We can assume that, who ever did this to her, wanted her to be frozen for a long time. "

General Pepper looked at Beltino, his face stern.

"Found anything else that I should know of?" he probed further.

"Well.." Beltino hesitated, "... we have been picking up faint brain waves, suggesting that part of her is still awake, but unable to act."

"Hmm... You are aware that by housing her, at any moment she could break free. What if that cooling agent wears off? Then we've got a possible threat loose."

"Yes General. But she could be a friendly, and we can restrain her if need be."

The General chuckled, his trust in his comrade was unfaltering.

"Beltino, just… be careful alright? We don't need another war on our hands."

Beltino nodded and grinned and crossed his arms.

"Don't worry General, we've got this under control," he reassured his old friend.

While the two continued their conversation on the research teams findings, the avian's eyes shot open.

"Director, we are getting an elevated reading from the ice!" Dodge yelled.

Beltino turned sharply, "What are you picking up, Dodge?!"

"Trace amounts of gamma radiation and high frequency brain waves!"

"Cool her down then!" Beltino snapped.

"We can't! She's melting the ice and flooding the electronics! We've lost control over the temperature regulators!"

The crew scrambled to regain control over the temperature of the ice; all while the soldiers readied their weapons and took their positions. Beltino and the General hurried down the stairs, and took cover behind a table. They both looked at each other, panic written across their faces.

In that moment, she broke free. Ice flew in every direction, smashing some of the screens, and shards of ice sprinkled all over the floor like shattered glass. The scientists took cover under the control panels and desks, and some of the soldiers were hit with chunks of ice and, slamming them into the floor. The few remaining men took aim and fired at the avian, but missed, their vision hindered with the steam from the temperature contrast. When their guns were out of energy, they fled the lab.

The avian stood boldly amongst the mounds of ice and puddles of water. Her vibrant pink feathers were drenched from the damp air. Her piercing magenta eyes searched around the room for possible hostility. She stepped out of the ice, steam rolling off her shoulders. With her fists clenched and her beak set, she walked down the steps towards the General and Beltino.

However, before making it down, she felt a sharp ripping pain in her thigh, and grunted, applying pressure to it as she limped the rest of the way. Her breathing became laboured, and she winced as she fell to the floor at the last step, unable to support her own weight through the pain. It was not so much the wound that was the problem: it was the poisonous cooling agent. Its effects were still faintly in her system, which caused her to feel weak and achy, amplifying the injury.

"Ah! Dammit!" she whispered under her breath, throwing the mysterious weapon across the room.

The crew started whispering and peaked up through their cover examine the scene. Beltino was the first to stand up.

"W-Who are you?" he demanded, "Do you mean us harm?"

The avian sighed, annoyed.

"Depends", she started, attempting to stand up but falling again, "Ngh... are you going to hurt me like the last guy?"

Beltino knew she wasn't a threat, but could already tell she was a sassy one.

"Depends," he grinned, offering her a hand. She took his offer and got to her feet, leaning against the railing of the stairs. She applied more pressure on her wound, wincing again.

"Asshole...!" She muttered to herself.

Beltino felt more at ease, but just to settle everyone's nerves, he clarified the situation.

"So are you a friend?"

The pink avian smiled, even though she was still in pain.

"Yes, " she laughed, "I'm a friend."

General Pepper ordered his men to stand down, and turned to face the woman.

"That is good to know," he chimed in, "Now, do you have a name, Miss?"

"Nova," she stated boldly.

"Nova what? Do you have a last name?"

"A last name?" she asked, confused.

Pepper sighed, remembering that she wasn't from Lylat. Beltino couldn't hold back anymore, he had so many questions.

"So what are you? Not to be rude, but we have collected some strange readings and I just want to clarify." he gushed, trying to hold back his excitement.

Nova smiled at his curiosity.

"I am a Phoenix. I can't really tell you much more than that right now…"She trailed off looking back over at the broken ice mounds, "...Sorry about that. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

She noticed a few of the men slowly getting up, one having a bloody nose and another with a cut down his arm.

Beltino glanced over at the men as well, and gave a heart-warming laugh.

"Oh no need to worry my dear," he said, taking her arm in hopes that she would follow him up the stairs, "These men have seen a lot worse. We will get them all fixed up in no time!"

Nova smiled a little, and walked with him, yet she could feel that breathing was becoming difficult. She coughed, trying to clear her throat, but her chest still felt tight. Beltino noticed her struggling.

"Everything okay Nova?" he asked, concerned. Nova nodded in response. The one thing she didn't like was to appear weak in front of others.

Beltino continued to lead Nova down the halls of the Orbital Gate. The General strolled slowly behind them, not as fascinated as Beltino was with the newcomer, but interested enough to stay close. As they walked, Beltino asked Nova various questions, and she would give a short but sweet reply. She felt as if she was slowly losing herself with each step, causing her to feel light-headed. Her wound caused her to limp most of the way down the hall. Her breathing became slower and weaker, and her head started to pulse with a throbbing headache.

What is going on? Nova thought to herself. She shook her head, and tried to shake off her feeble feelings. Her confident composure almost kept her inner thoughts and feelings a secret, but then Beltino turned and noticed her laboured breathing and pained expression.

"Nova?"

Before any words could slide of the tip of her tongue, Nova lost her breath, slowly closed her eyes and collapsed onto the floor.

"Scan her!" Beltino ordered to one of the men passing by.

"Her life signs are slowing sir! When she forced her body to heat up the cooling agent caused a reaction and obstructed some of her veins!"

"Get her into medical immediately! I will be right there!"

Two men picked up the tall, beautiful avian and rushed her down to the medical bay. The General looked at Beltino.

"Why are you saving her?" he asked his old friend. Beltino picked up the strange stone that had fallen out of the Phoenix's hand and examined it slowly.

"Do you know what this is, General?" he questioned back.

The General looked at it curiously, for a moment, and shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid I do not."

"Well, you should. You see, this is the marking of a higher order."

"Higher order?"

"Yes. She must have been sent here for a reason, something must be brewing out there in the depths of space. Something dark, for her to be here."

"What can she do about it?"

"She can make the darkness go away…I'm guessing."

The General raised his brow, then ordered, "Keep her here until further orders."

Beltino nodded, "Of course."

The General turned and headed towards the exit when Beltino called his last comment, "By the way, it's a memory stone."


	2. Chapter 2

_Meanwhile back on planet Fichina..._

Please… Please be safe" A soft quiet voice whispered against the howling of the bitter, snowy wind. Celestia, a rather lovely turquoise phoenix, had been searching for her dear friend for several years now. She had found herself to be very lonely without the comfort of her friend after being separated for so long. Celestia had decided that it was time to find her. 

Normally, they were never too far apart from one another, and for a long time the two worked together to protect and deliver justice throughout the galaxy. Celestia had found Nova when she was very young, and very alone. Luckily for her, Celestia happened to be close by and sought to care for her. She never left her side and trained her as best she could. Treating her as her own flesh and blood, sheltering her until she grew older and learned the truth of who she really was. From then on, the two were like sisters, inseparable and unstoppable to the forces of evil. They watched over the beautiful, peaceful planet Cerinia, and all that was bad seemed to behind them…Until the incident.

With just a blink of an eye, Nova was gone from Celestia's life. And with all the troubles and obstacles that she had to overcome without her, she had fallen into great despair. A sickness overcame her that had weakened her physically and mentally. She isolated herself, which brought about a darkness inside of her that she could not control. However, Celestia realized that she was stronger and more confident when Nova was around; and thus, decided to start her search where she last knew her friend was seen, Fichina.

Celestia didn't have to fight hard against the bitter gusts of wind, for she was in her element. Born with a unique trait different from many of the other phoenixes, she was able freeze things at will and could create blizzards with a quick swish of her hand. Although, she was also ashamed of this ability. More often than not, she did not use it, even when she was in danger. Nobody really understood why she shied away from using her powers. Many thought the reason lay within her inability to love who she really is and behold the beauty in her uniqueness. Despite this, she was not a very confident or powerful ice phoenix; though many knew her heart was in the right place.

Just when she was about to give up hope Celestia, by chance, glanced down and noticed a pink feather. But the bitter wind picked it up before she could seize it. Annoyed, she raised her hand and swiped quickly to the side, completely freezing everything in place. All stood still, the only thing that could be heard was the sound of her breathing. Celestia approached the feather and took it in her hand. She analyzed it for a moment and smiled when she realized that it was indeed Nova's feather. She knew she was close now…

* * *

It wasn't long after Nova was admitted to the medical bay in Corneria's Orbital Gate that they started operating on her. The doctors, along with the help of a robotic surgeon, managed to siphon out the poisonous cooling agent. Nova's breathing and consciousness quickly returned. After only a few hours she was up and walking. She did not allow the nurses to help her. The crew was impressed by her determination, but insisted that she rest until the results were processed. Nova pouted in her hospital bed; she had too many important things to do for her sit around and wait for her wounds to heal. As a phoenix, she would heal quickly and so she didn't feel the need to 'recover'. She slowly eased herself off the bed and tip-toed across the floor to the door to peek out the window. Her sharp fuchsia eyes scanned outside her room looking for signs of movement. Nobody seemed to be around, so she quietly opened the door and snuck out.

The low-lit metal hallways echoed Nova's every move. She tried her best to remain silent but nothing she did improved her stealth. She rolled her eyes and quickly gave up trying to go unheard.

 _It's not like they can stop me anyway..._ She thought to herself.

She continued confidently, swaying her hips from side to side. While she strolled, she thought about what had happened before she was frozen. She clenched her fists in anger, and remembered each and every moment of it. She was determined to put an end to this madness. Stopping her adversary wasn't going to be easy, but for now it was her main concern. General Peppers' voice could be heard down one of the halls close by. She slowly made her way down towards the general, her wing sliding along the wall beside her as she walked. To her surprise, she saw Beltino too. He smiled, "Well someone was eager to get out of the med bay."

Nova smirked, laying her hands on her hips. "I don't like the smell of hospitals. Besides, I will heal."

"Well frankly, I'm just glad you're alright" Beltino touched her arm, a genuine smile spread across his face.

"Could we walk and talk?" The general cut in, "I would like to see how the research team is working out with the results of the cooling agent." The two nodded and they proceeded to walk towards the laboratory.

* * *

The doctors and researchers concealed portions of the cooling agent in various glass vials for later analysis. While the group was talking, one of the crew members, a short black sheep, snuck into the secured room and slipped a vile into his pocket. He quietly snuck by the group and into the hallway. One of the other researchers went into the room shortly after the thief had left and noticed that one vile was missing and sounded the alarm. The cooling agent wasn't to be toyed with, and if placed into the wrong hands, a serious catastrophe could occur.

The pink phoenix stopped dead in her tracks seconds before the alarm was sounded. She could feel something was wrong. As if on cue the blaring of a warning alarm sounded in her ears. Nova looked up at the red flashing light, and knew right away what the problem was. She knew somebody would be after that vile, it was only a matter of time. This behavior was typical.

She cut the general short of his story of his times in the Cornerian Army, and dashed into the hallway. The group rushed to the hall just as Nova had, but she was already half way ahead of them; the thief was in sight.

* * *

The black sheep was running short of breath, but the sight of the angry phoenix kept him going. He was starting to wonder if this was worth the money, or even worth dying for; he went to turn the corner but bumped right into a fox holding a blaster.

"Going somewhere?" the new opponent grinned. Standing right beside him was a tall blue pheasant. The avian also smirked and pulled out his blaster. "If he's goin' anywhere it's not off this ship." The fox laughed at the his comrade's comment.

"Fox! Falco!" Beltino exclaimed excitedly from down the hall, the sheep went to run the other way but when he turned around, he saw Nova standing furious behind him, fire in her hands.

"Looks like you've run out of options," she said brashly. The sheep sighed in defeat raising his hands.

"Coward..." Nova mumbled, disgusted. She was crossing her wings when Fox grabbed the sheep's hands and pulled them behind his back, wrapping them in cuffs. Beltino grabbed the vile out the sheep's shirt pocket.

"I'll be taking that, thank you very much." Beltino turned around and headed towards the storage room. Falco grabbed the sheep by the scuff of the shirt and looked at him angrily in the eyes.

"So sheepy… what did you need the vile for?" he said in a low voice. The sheep shivered, already having a fear of the avian. He didn't look him back in the eyes.

"I-I...I was blackmailed into doing it!" He yelped. Falco rolled his eyes and placed the blaster against the sheep's head.

"Get talkin'." He said sharply. Nova felt unease in the air. She walked up to Falco and pushed the blaster away from the sheep's head. He glared at her, but she glared right back.

"What's the big deal..?" He asked but she cut him off.

"Move," she said. Something else was wrong. She walked a few steps down to the next intersection and noticed another sheep making his way around the far corner.

"He's a decoy!" she yelled as she made a running dash down the hall. She jumped and flung a fire wisp but missed by the length of an eyelash. She slid around the corner of the hall to hear whispering nearby. Trying her best to be silent as she searched for her target, she grinned when she found him tucked in a dark corner talking to someone on his wrist device.

"Hey boss…. yeah I got it right here. Yeah I know… I'll be there… Gotta go!"The sheep slowly turned around to see a tall pink avian standing behind him, smirking.

"Got what?" She asked innocently. The sheep quivered, after hearing the commotion that she had caused back in the lab, and took a step back.

"Oh, it's nothing," he swallowed hard. Nova rolled her eyes; she had seen this time and time again, and was sick of it. She proceeded to grab the sheep by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground.

"Then you won't mind me taking a quick look in your pockets then?" The sheep looked away; her eyes were just too threatening.

"I'll call security!" He threatened. She laughed.

"On yourself?" She dropped him on the floor. He took out a blaster and aimed it at her, Nova's smile faded to a annoyed expression.

"I'll do it!" he screamed, his hand and blaster shaking.

"I'm not afraid of little boys… let alone ones that won't use a gun." She grimaced, and kicked the blaster out of his hand, sending it flying. It smashed upon contact with the floor.

"Hand it over!" She ordered, impatient.

"No!" He said, holding the vile close to his chest.

"Boy, do you even know what that stuff can do to you?" She snarled.

"It can stop you." He said. Nova paused for a moment.

"… Give it to me." She gestured for him to give it to her.

"No."

This little sheep was far too stubborn for Nova's taste. He aggravated her. She grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the stomach. Immediately he doubled over, and collapsed to the floor. She put her foot on his chest.

"Who's your boss?" She demanded. Her new prisoner choked and coughed.

"You'll have to kill me first!" he cried out.

"Well I guess you will be spending the rest of your life on this cold metal floor then. I am not moving my foot until you tell me who put you up to this." She boldly stated.

Falco and Fox came running around the corner, blasters in hand. Fox's eyes widened at the sight of Nova standing over the sheep. It looked to him as if Nova was a predator and the sheep was her prey. Falco merely grinned at the sight. Not too far behind them were Beltino, General Pepper, and the guards that had followed.

The thief was frightened to the bone. He was underneath a viscous pink avian who was backed by the Star Fox team. Knowing very well he was not going to win this fight alone, he popped open the vial and drank the dark substance. Nova quickly stepped and readied a fist of fire. Within seconds the small sheep had transformed into a hideous black monster.

His shriek tore through the halls of the gate and made Fox's fur stand on end. The rest of the crew held back, raising their weapons. Nova stood right in front of the beast without a hint fear. She leaped up over the front of it and threw a sharp blade made of violet flames. He screeched in agony and grabbed her by her tail feathers. She landed face first on the floor, which knocked the wind out of her.

Fox and Falco fired their blasters, giving Nova the time she needed to recuperate and get back on her feet, but their shots seemed to do little more than irritate the monster. She slowly eased herself up and glared up at the monster. Her face was scraped and bloodied; taking a deep breath she leapt back up and started to fight again.

The two Star Fox members looked at each other, and silently agreed that they had stood on the sidelines for long enough. They both ran in, guns blazing. The creature flung shadowy disks at the both of them, but the shot them down with ease. They both sent more shots at the deformed sheep. Fox's shot managed to graze the creature by the eye. Falco took his shot which bounced off the creature's chest and flew past the General and his men.

At this point the general ordered his men to open fire at the creature. It flung its arms around, trying to swipe Fox and Falco away from him. But what the monster did not know was that they were distracting him.

Nova took this opportunity to make her final blow. She stood up and raised her hands slowly. Closing her eyes, she summoned a giant ring of fire that surrounded and enveloped her enemy. More rings of violet flame appeared and began to spin. The heat and light spread throughout the room, blinding those that did not cover their eyes. The creature shrieked in pain, causing the rings to crack slightly. Nova's fuchsia eyes shot open fiercely, without pupils and as white as the brightest suns. She was more than finished with this battle. Strength welled up inside of her and she started to flex her fingers, tightening the rings and forcing them to become even brighter.

Everyone looked at the creature with amazement. From the floor up it was turning white, and slowly starting to resemble the sheep that was it once was. In a matter of minutes the shadow-beast had faded, and the tiny sheep had reappeared. Nova sighed, satisfied with the result of her actions, and lowered her hands.

"Beautiful." Beltino whispered, awed by her abilities. Nova approached the sheep and pinned him, her talons encompassing his neck.

"I'll ask one more time, who put you up to this?" she questioned sternly. When he did not reply, she started to squeeze.

"Okay, okay!" He cried, "...His name is Andrew…"

Fox jumped in, "As in Andrew Oikonny?"

The sheep nodded, "He is gathering his army again..."

"Where are they gathering?" Fox growled, grabbing him from Nova. He had a bone to pick with Andrew..

"Ouch! …I don't know!." The sheep squealed, quivering in Fox's grasp.

Fox became annoyed and bared his fangs at him pulling him closer to meet his gaze. "Cowardly little sheep..if you know what's good for you... you'll…"

"That's enough!" Beltino and Pepper chimed in, ordering their men to take the Sheep away and lock him in a cell. They could get more answers out of him later if need be. Nova glared at him as he walked by, in a way that scared him more than being face to face with Fox McCloud. Her eyes were menacing, and had the glimmer of a predator ready to rip apart its prey…

"We need to find out what Andrew is up to." Pepper said in a quiet voice. A voice that meant he was in deep thought and likely two steps ahead of everyone else.

Fox nodded, "I think we can snoop around and try to dig up something? Maybe fight a few pests. What do you think Falco?"

"I would hate to miss a good fight." The avian grinned, swinging his blaster around his finger and then sliding it back into its holster.

Fox looked over at Nova, "Would you be interested in coming with us?"

She nodded, "Knowing what they are after I cannot refuse. I am obligated to investigate this...issue."

The general piped in, "I am sorry Nova, but we cannot have you wondering Lylat without knowing what kind of threat you pose. We haven't often trusted people with great power in the past."

Nova sighed, "I understand your concern General, but I can reassure you that I am not a threat to you or your people. If you must insist on me staying back I would be required to use… an extreme response. Matters that involve dark energy are not to be tampered with by lesser life forms such as yourselves. No offense... but I must insist that I go with-"

"You are staying here until Beltino clears or deems you safe to roam Lylat!" Pepper snapped.

Beltino got in between the General and Nova before a heated debate broke out.

"Listen, I think we can reach an agreement here…" he said and turned to Falco and Fox, "You take Nova, or rather, escort her to help you investigate this issue. That way she gets what she wants and we know that she won't cause any trouble."

Pepper sighed. In a way he knew what it was like to be kept from his duties, and decided to agree with his friend. "Fine, but make one mistake and you are no longer welcome in Lylat. Is that understood?"

Nova nodded in understanding, "Understood General."

"So its settled then?" Fox placed his hands on his hips. "We will get resupplied and move out

tomorrow morning."

"Oh Nova, I guess you haven't been properly introduced", Beltino said to Nova ushering her over towards the two, "This is Fox and Falco. They are part of team Star Fox; they're kind of a big deal around here."

Nova smiled and offered to shake Fox's hand, "Nice to meet you Fox."

"Likewise" Fox smiled back, shaking her hand in return. Nova felt an unease with Falco, but shrugged it off and offered to shake his hand anyway.

"And nice to meet you too, Falco."

"Yeah yeah, nice to meet you too lady" He scoffed, crossing his arms. Nova rolled her eyes.

"Rude," she mumbled, glaring at the other avian.

"I'll have someone clean up this mess," the General stated. "Beltino, see to it that our new…guest…is wearing proper attire before she leaves."

Nova didn't understand what the General meant, until she compared what she was wearing to everyone else. She wore white robes with rose shaped gold plates that twisted and twined around like vines all over her ankles and wrists.

"But this is the only thing I can wear without burning it up…"

Beltino raised his brow, clearly both clothes and armor would both be destroyed in high temperatures.

"Its enchanted..." She finished, seeing that Beltino and the rest of the crew were confused.

"Ah! Well I'm sure we could whip something else up for you, Nova" Beltino suggested with a hint of excitement in his voice, "I'll get started on it right away! Also, if you wish you can have room G456-C, it's for our special guests. One of the men can show you where it is when you are ready."

Pepper gestured the men to follow him and Beltino.

"Be ready for a debriefing. You and the Star Fox team will be given the most valuable intel on the situation regarding Andrew and his followers. We will see you all at seven-hundred hours."

Fox, Falco and Nova nodded and watched the crew march around the corner. Fox sighed stretching his arms, "Well I guess we should get back to see if our supplies have made it on the ship, eh Falco?"

Falco was too busy looking at the pink avian standing in front of him to respond. He was impressed by the way she held herself, especially when she fought the dark creature. Fox grinned and wanted to laugh but managed to hold it back.

Nova spun around, "Glad that's over..." she said, noticing Falco's dazed expression. She raised her brow annoyed. "Really? You don't get to look at me like that, especially after that introduction."

Falco was taken aback by her comment. It was not too often he met a girl who would talk back to him like that. And he wasn't too fond of it. He was about to respond when Fox stepped in to insure he wouldn't say something he would later regret.

"Ha, okay… We will see you tomorrow Nova." He pushed Falco back slightly hoping he'd back off. As Fox and Falco turned and walked away, Nova and Falco shared a glared at one another.

This is going to be an interesting trip…. Fox thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Nova could smell the unease the radiated off of her escorts as they led her to her temporary residence for the night. Their eyes peeking back at her then quickly snapping forward again. It came to her in wafts to her nostrils, and she didn't like it.

"Hey…" She spoke with a soft voice as she matched their pace. "Hey, relax. I'm not going to hurt either of you." She smiled at them. Wanting them to know that she was completely genuine, and her efforts were a success when she saw the gruff soldiers smile back. "Yeah, sorry. Just… It's a bit unsettling to have your back to someone who can do some real damage."

"As long as you have good intentions, you have no need to fear me." She replied. "My powers are meant for those people who do wrong. Not for soldiers guarding me to my room." She said sarcastically. She heard the soldier grunt, she got him to smile. When she looked up she could make out a serial number over the door, it read G456-C.

"Here we are… still more comfy than an army bed." The other escort opened the door and motioned Nova inside. With a cursory glance she swept past him, and entered the temporary quarters. "Beltino said that you liked it warm. This room is closest to the furnace." He said. Nova stood in the middle of her new Spartan quarters where she had a bed in the corner, a small bathroom with a mirror, and desk with a laptop on it.

"Thank you." She was being polite. And the soldier recognized that she needed some time to be alone. With a nod he shouldered his rifle and was off. The hatch to the room locking shut behind him. In the silence of the room, Nova could hear the light humming of the heater as the vents turned on again, and the warm air brushed against her soft feathers. The tired phoenix sighed as she lay down on her bed; she had never felt more comfortable in her life.

When she closed her eyes she heard voices. Sometimes those voices were followed by images. With them were smells, scents, some of it was anger, other times it was fear. And sometimes it was something even more primal. Nova couldn't shake how it made her feel. The uncertainty brought with it a sensation that made her think butterflies were in her stomach. So when she closed her eyes and started dream all she could think about was what might have happened. Finally her mind went into overdrive. Her senses pulling into herself and forcing her mind to focus solely on recovering her memories. And waking up again from those few minutes of sleep was even more uncomfortable that going into it. She had clenched her beak so hard that she thought she may have cracked it.

"Thoe…"

He was conniving. He was out there somewhere and he was unopposed. With that name so many questions arose even faster than the memories could. He had been the one that had trapped her in the ice…

But how? How indeed.

He had chased her across the sea of stars for centuries… burning planets and systems to get to her.

 _"_ _I would be so grateful…"_ The memories shot into her eyes, her heart beating rapidly in her chest while she felt a bead of sweat run down her temple.

 _"_ _If I could have you by my side."_ She remembered his weight, the feeling of his body resting against hers… the smell of burning wood in a room on fire. But what had caused him to change? Why had he tried to make her his? Why had he so madly fallen in love with her? So many questions and she was already out of time. She needed answers. And she needed them now. And the memories continued to come back as she slowly fell back asleep.

_

Nova would never cease to amaze him. She had tamed a monster in mere hours that would have taken the indigenous perhaps days. The Hyinthx was close to four meters in height, muscles bulging from its body and sensory that had been honed for thousands of years of evolution. With claws that could cut through steel the Hyinthx was a monster that was more feared than it was respected. But Nova had a plan to change that. The creature hummed as it lay on its side, its tail switching back and forth as she rubbed its chest. For him, it was incredible that this small, pink phoenix could have almost any creature calm and submissive to her. In minutes, she had the creature curled up beside her while they sat down.

"She's something else, isn't she?" he said, addressing the turquoise phoenix who sat beside him. Celestia was shifting the logs in their fire with a stick. A weak smile spreading across he ends of her beak.

"She's a brave one, that's for sure. I don't know how she can just walk up to any creature and have it not try to rip her head off."

"A good trait for a Queen to have." He said, just her presence dulled the fire. Her nervousness was radiated through the ice that spread from where she sat. "And she has grown into quite the alluring woman. I cannot wait to make her my bride." He beamed as he turned back to look at Nova. His red and black feathers shining even through the planet's foliage.

Celestia held back a sigh. Thoe preached this like it was doctrine, and Celestia was getting very tired of hearing how he spoke about Nova. She was a possession, a jewel to boast about. He had told her about how his house had bred him for hundreds of thousands of years to be the perfect suitor for their future Queen. Never before had a Queen chosen a suitor to be her mate, House Ignitus wanted to be the first to please the divinity of light with one. And he was the result of that hard work. He had fought the champions of each house and was the victor; he even sat on the throne when Trymera had left to the grand star of the Phoenician home world. And finally on the night of her birth, when the night sky was lit with a flash of fuchsia radiance, the phoenixes knew that Trymera had passed, and Nova had been born. And it was Thoe's sworn duty to return the new Queen to her rightful place on the throne. To train her to be the worrier, scholar, master, and Matriarch that she had to be for her people.

And he was destined to rule alongside her in a new age that the Guardians had never known. Celestia too was often reminded that this was the fate set down for Nova. But unlike her peers she cared for Nova's happiness more than what tradition had called for. She was loyal to her until the end. But even then, she did not have the heart to tell her friend about the intended marriage, at least… not yet.

Thoe had been adamant that she not know, and Celestia was terrified of him. Thoe was the largest avian she had ever seen. Over two meters in height the man towered over the both of them, packed with muscles head to toe and a booming, low voice that demanded submission. Thoe was perhaps the image that all Phoenician boys aspired to be. His feathers a deep crimson red with black playing in. His only mild trait was the small rings of golden feathers that gathered around his eyes and the tips of his head feathers.

This, simply by having them, reminded those around him of his status in the guardians.

Thoe ogled at his prize. Tomorrow the young Queen would be turning sixteen. Barely a child for a Phoenix, and Thoe would be asking for her hand in marriage on that very day. As he stared he was reminded of her beauty, and his infatuation was surpassed only by his curiosity at just how powerful she would become in her long lifespan.

Even at her age lesser males would look at her and not be able to describe her divine magnificence. Her feathers were the rarest shade of pink, a trait only seen in the Diyazia and coated with a shimmering gloss to make them shine and feel like silk. A thick, elegant pony-tail of feathers hung from her head down to her back that had their own elegance, and a solar pattern of fuchsia painting dances around her eyes, adding a somehow fierce yet sensual glimpse to her. With all of this, she still had her small beak that was sharp and pointed to even mention the desire this had in the males of her race, only to be combined with a feminine body that hid her true physical strength like a curtain to a stage. White robes hung from her large, abundant breasts and flowed around her hourglass shaped waist and her long tail feathers hung millimeters from the ground, making one think that she were dragging them and between each of them were sparkles of exquisite golden flames.

To be in her presence was indeed to have the company of a goddess. One who walked proudly and spoke softly. Her beauty only matched by her fiery personality. Indeed, she was brave, cunning, intelligent, seductive, but above all, she was passionate. She loved all living things, and often this would clash with the ambitions of others, causing her to be in more than a couple fights in her young age. She did not like the attention that was so often thrust upon her, causing more than a few arrogant males to flee with burns and dark bruises.

And currently she was leaping on top of the Hynthix, scratching behind its horns. Its grey fur stood on edge. After a moment it growled in content. "Now you must promise me that you will leave the village alone. Or I won't come back to play with you." The sides of her beak were turned up in a grin. The creature growled in acknowledgement that it had understood and rested the bottom of its beak against her head. She giggled, "I'll take that as a yes."

Then the creature pulled its head up and stared. Nova felt hands slide around her waist and pull her into Thoe's embrace. She sighed both unnerved and annoyed. He had begun to this more and more. "Hi…" She said hiding her annoyance from him. Staying polite, despite the harassment, he had still practically raised her alongside Celestia. The Hynthix growled and circled behind Nova to confront the threat to its (perhaps only) friend. Nova took this opportunity to pull out of his grasp. "He doesn't seem to like you." She giggled. Even as she pet his chest the creature opened its beak enough to show the rows of extended, sharpened teeth just underneath.

"He is worried that I might steal you away from him." Thoe said. "And in this case, he would be right to. I need to speak to you alone." He leered at the Hynthix again, not in the least bit intimidated, but nonetheless impressed.

"Oh, yeah… sure." She said before whispering onto her companion's ear; "I'll see you again tomorrow big guy." The creature trusted her so well that it whimpered a bit at her words. Finally, it walked off into the brush where the sound of its footsteps eventually faded away.

"Impressive Nova. As your mentor I am pleased with your progress, you have an almost… innate ability to communicate with any life form that you tame." He said. Her face beaming at the compliment.

"Thanks, but it's nothing rea-"

"So my dear, have you given my proposal any more thought?" He interrupted.

"And what would that be?" She said wanting to mask just how uneasy this conversation made her.

"Celestia and I have been discussing the matter of you being the Queen, and it will be quite a while longer before we reach the cradle world of Rynicky." He paused and gently took one of her hands in his. "My dear, I was bred to be more than your mentor. I was bred to be your husband." He said. "I admit… I was supposed to wait before I told you this. The council wanted me to explain it in their presence but I can't wait any longer. Every day I am infatuated with your beauty. Looking upon such a divine woman… One can't but sometimes let their lesser judgment get the better of them." His eyes started to blur as he looked into her, his feathers standing on edge as more primal urges started to take over. His heart rate slowly sped up; he was losing himself in her eyes. So much that he let saliva fall from his mouth and land on her hand. Nova, disgusted, pulled back.

"Well… I-"

"Come Nova…" he said pulling her body against his. "There's no point fighting fate…" he whispered as he motioned them towards the lake.

"Excuse me?" She said, pushing out of his embrace and turning to face him. Her fury unmasked as the flames in her feathers started to glow before she calmed herself and took back her regal pose. All too late.

"Your majesty…" Thoe began, "My house has spent hundreds of thousands of years breeding a suitor for you. Nova you would be the first to Queen to wed since the Empress herself. But I could be your King, the first worthy guardian to hold the hand of the incarnation of light." He said. But Nova could hear the subliminal tons of desperateness. Worse, she could smell it.

"Or I can be like the Diyazia before me, and choose no one." She took a deep breath and spoke softly. "Thoe I don't want to marry. Thoe I… I just want to be alone. I care too much for life around me to be caught in a serious relationship with anyone." She wanted for him to understand her concerns. Even as young as she was she could see that he thought he was in love with her, and she was not cold enough to break his heart so brutally.

But that generous show of affection would be one of the greatest mistakes she ever made.

Thoe let his own, true power show through. His body began to give off great amounts of heat while his eyes were doused in red flames. The world itself seemed to turn red as the grass at his feet danced in agony before turning black and dying. His throat rumbled as he moved with impossible speed and grabbed her arm with his huge hand. Squeezing her seemingly petit muscles.

"You will be mine." He rumbled, his voice coming from everywhere at once. Through his red, un-pupiled eyes he looked her body over, staring at her chest, her waist, her hips… even her feet all the way back to her eyes. But Nova wouldn't allow herself to be cowed. She growled and pulled her arm out of his iron grasp. With one final, rebellious statement she had sealed her future for the centuries that would follow in her life, and cast the Universe into total darkness.

"I choose my own fate."

She woke with a startle in a pool of her own sweat. Her eyes darted back and forth while she remembered… everything. Suddenly the room felt stuffy and small. She needed air. Nova quickly got to her feet and put on the simple uniform that they issued her. The hatch opened to the station outside and the cold air brushed against her and made her feathers stand on edge. It was pitch black to anyone without evolved vision. But for Nova it could have been day time. She swiftly moved on the fingers of her taloned feet and hung to the corners of the hallway, avoiding the automated light system's sensors. Something guided her down the hallways, finally taking her into the laboratories' of the station where the vile was still being held in stasis.

In the room just beside it was where it had all started again. She looked inside of it to see that the water had evaporated but the cleaning staff had yet to remove the fragments of glass that were scattered about the floor. Holding her back to the wall, outside of the light, she touched the locked door and sent of pulse of energy through its circuits. It immediately had the desired effect and opened for her. From within she could see the small, dried puddles of her black blood painted across the glass. And yet, there was something off about it. She kneeled down to look closer. Darkness seeped from the dried blood like smoke from an extinguished fire. Every sense told her to stay far away from the substance. But the energy had other plans.

In her presence, it started to pool, the blood stains collected and squirmed in front of her. Something told her to get away. Far away as quickly as possible. But she was frozen to the ground. It was crawling up her legs. She felt razors dig into her skin as the toxic substance moved through her veins. Nova held back a sound of distress as it slowly made its way to her heart and pulled through her. The puddle disappeared into her. And through her feathers were lines of blackness that pulled and squirmed. She kneeled on the ground and held her sides. Suppressing the toxic substance. Her heat beat was so heavy that her body spasmed, her nerves overwhelmed. But she held, screeching through clenched teeth as she forced the razors down. When they lines seeped away from her feathers, she let go of herself and gasped for air. The lights had finally turned on.

Someone was coming down the hall; she couldn't let anyone catch her like this. With the last of her strength she quickly moved her sore muscles into a corner in the blackness. And waited for whoever was close to pass her by. It was Beltino and the blue avian. She watched them go into the adjacent lab. And with great curiously she hid behind the wall and pressed the side of her head to its cold surface.

"I'm sorry that I had to ask this of you. I know that it was not easy coming here." Beltino said. Nova heard them through the walls. "But I really appreciate you coming all this way and allowing me to sample your DNA. You're the closest avian that I know that has similar anatomy to our guest."

"Whatever." The other voice said. Indifferent to the situation. "Wasn't like I was sleeping anyways." Nova picked up on the accent. Zonessian. Low born.

-Falco. - She thought. Nova lifted her head to watch the two in the adjacent room. Careful not to let them see her. Falco had taken off his jacket and was pulling up a sleeve. Beltino stood in front of him with a large syringe. Falco watched the needle take the sample from him with total disregard. Seeming uninterested in the process. Even his heart beat was calm. Beltino smiled as the needle retraced into the syringe. Then he placed it in a cylinder that pulled into a still functioning terminal. On the screen was Falco Lombardi's profile. Everything that they Lylat government had on him was right there. After a few clicks on the key board Nova's profile appeared as well.

"I hope that she isn't too upset. I didn't exactly get her consent for this sample." Beltino confessed. Falco looked down at him.

"Then how did you get it from her?" Beltino played with his fingers as he replied.

''We took it from her just after she broke through her tomb of ice. At the time, we thought she was dead. I swear she didn't have a heart beat." Beltino said. But Falco was callous to the entire situation; he put his jacket back on and crossed his arms. Beltino continued, "Amazingly, we were able to take a certain set of chemicals from a rare strand of plant to take a totally clean sample from her blood stream! Truly amazing considering how much dark matter is shifting through her arteries." Beltino said. Falco closed his eyes and let a light yawn whistle out of his beak.

"Whatever Doc, I still don't trust her. She rubs off as one of those 'I'm all that matters' types. The kind that let other people do the dirty work while she takes the glory." The old toad grinned.

"She doesn't remind you of anyone?" Beltino chided. Falco looked away.

"Well I'm willing to get nice and dirty for what's coming to me." He replied. Beltino shook his head. -Youth. - He thought.

"I don't believe that for a moment. If she were only in it for herself, she would have left us to fight that monster. And unless you have already forgotten, she was at the forefront of that little engagement." Beltino paused for a minute, "People who are out for only themselves don't behave like her."

"I'm not convinced." Falco said. The machine binged, saying that the samples had been compared. Both Beltino and Falco looked at the screen.

==============================================

= Species: Phoeniticus Avershina (WARNING: High threat level.)

=Subject Diagnosis: Height: 5'10' (Approx 1.65 meters) Weight: 325 LBS [estimated from muscle density] (147.273 kilos)

This rare species of Avian was first encountered by [TITLE REDACTED] Andross on the factory world of Venom. Species was esoteric and knowledgeable, and seemed peaceful upon first encounter. After closer observation (taken at face value {pure theory and hypothesis}) the species seemed to have evolved much, much farther than any known species in the data base, 'Phoenixes' are identifiable for their highly dense muscle structure, fatless physique, and advanced cognitive abilities.

Subject can manipulate cosmic energies. Making them a high threat level, approach with caution. Information extracted from subject AM3R5 shows a high amount of toxin akin to the elemental materials found in both anti-matter and dark energy. Current subject seems to be suffering from the large (and increasing) dose of dark energy in her body. Also responsible for stress levels, paranoia, and even hostile actions.

Prognosis: Phoeniticus Avershina is negatively affected by dark energies. Guardian Phoenixes [preferred synonym] are prone to its presence and shortly after ingestion will eventually die.

Notes: Subject AM3R5 was discovered shortly after the elimination of Bioweapon 'Solarian'.

Current location of subject: [INFORMATION REDACTED]

==============================================

Falco snorted at the weight estimate, there was no way. Beltino adjusted his glasses. "So it is true, Andrew must have found a sample and used it. But why would he target Nova?" He pondered as he turned to his taller friend.

"Guess that it might have to do with whatever happened on Fichina." Falco said. There was a pause of silence while the other sleeping machines hummed in the room.

"It is best if Pepper knows about this…" Beltino turned back to the screen and began to upload the video to the General's personal archives.

"What are you doing with my DNA sample?" Nova had sneaked into the room without either of them knowing. Falco turned around quickly and drew his pistol; Beltino gasped and raised his hands. Nova though, looked as aggravated as she was annoyed. She stared down Falco, but the mercenary didn't seem in the least bit threatened by her. For her it was like he was baiting her to rise to the challenge.

"We just want to know what your about." He said. Nova closed the distance before them, Falco stuck the gun into her abs, and surprised to feel that there wasn't an ounce of fat on her… maybe the computer was right.

"I thought I had demonstrated that a few hours ago." She said, her voice was filled with authority and a sense of dominance. Any lesser person would have backed down. But if Falco was anything, he was stubborn to the end. The two of them were stuck in a battle of will, and his arrogance was starting to anger her.

"Just because you can blow up a freak doesn't mean I should trust you." Falco said. He started to push the pistol into her stomach.

"If you think I'm the problem," Nova grabbed the pistol with impossible speed and took it from Falco, now it was in his abs. "then you are really in for a rude awakening." But her victory was short lived. Falco had two throwing knives in the pistols place. The two were trapped at an impasse that neither of them could win.

"Nova, Falco, please be civil!' Beltino yelled. The small man got between the two of them. "Nova, we didn't mean to offend you, and Falco you didn't need to bring your gun into this! Let the general decide the next course of action. For all we know she could be in trouble herself." Beltino said. But the two just stared at each other, neither one willing to submit. Nova's eyes were nearly at the same level as his. Falco cringed and holstered the knives.

"Send the info to Fox. I got better things to do than waste my time here." He said as he turned and left the room. Nova's feathers puffed up slightly at the second less than friendly encounter. All she wanted to do now was get to Zoness and get this over with. If all of Star Fox acted this way she didn't know how she was going to cope. Hopefully they were more amiable than Falco… maybe not.

But her duty to the Universe came first. It came before her desires, it came before what she wanted, and how she felt… She had a lead on her enemy and she wasn't about to waste the opportunity. Now was the time to act, whether she liked it or not.

_  
The next morning Nova had got word that the General wanted to speak with her. And she was certain that it was going to be about the shadow creature. She had woken up that morning knowing that they had tailored a special flight suit for her. Beltino had managed to solve the heat issues by removing a good amount of the front of the suit. Nova looked the suit over in a holo-mirror as it hugged her body. She had to admit it was very comfortable, and it hugged her figure quite well. She left the room with a confident poise and made her way to General Pepper's office.

Pepper rubbed his old eyes, the memory of the shadow beast still fresh in his head even two days after the event. And it haunted his dreams. To think that that was just one… the thought of an army sent shivers down his spine. Corneria did not have the ability to fight against something like that. And that simple little fact is what irked him more than anything else. Then there was the Phoenix… that called herself Nova. The General wondered if she brought trouble wherever she went.

Regardless of if Corneria wanted another fight or not, they now had a stake in her war. Pepper remembered the old stories that his father once told, about a force of mystical avians. They never made it to Lylat. Thankfully.

So far, he had a single, desperate lead; Oikonny. The degenerate had once again put himself in the middle of it all. Pepper drank the last of his coffee and motioned for a serving drone to pour him another one. It was the only thing keeping him sane right now, he had to control the military, the politics… he was the most powerful man in all of Lylat, and he hated it.

Nova was on her way to speak with him, he was hoping that she would be able to share more information on just what they were up against. On one of his many screens was a full layout of Star Fox's complete arsenal, his one, and real ace in the hole against all odds. They had beaten Andross, the Apparoids…

Let's hope they could stop this.

He heard a knock on the door, looking through a monitor he saw Nova outside the door; he let her in with the push of a button. Just seeing how she walked made him feel forty years younger. And he wasn't afraid to admit that if he wasn't married and forty years younger that he would have made a pass at her. Not sure where to begin, he started with the first thing that came to mind, a little small talk.

"Miss Nova… If I may, I think it's ironic. You have at least forty years on me, but you definitely looked like you got the better deal." To him, she looked like she was twenty some years. Nova let herself grin just a little and put one leg over the other.

"It's all in the genes." She said. She scanned the room, looking for anything that seemed out of place.

"It must be nice to age a lot slower than everyone else." He said, noticing how she took in all of her surroundings in seconds. "Then again, some things you learn better when you lose the youth. Can I get you something? A drink? Coffee?" He said. He noticed how exposing her uniform was and made a mental note to ask Beltino if the lack of a front was necessary.

"Sure, water is fine." She said dodging the conversation about aging. She often felt guilty that she would be alive far along than any of the lesser races that she was trying to defend. She liked to recollect on all of the things that the others had done for her in the past. Thinking that most of them were gone now made her wonder if her lifespan was really worth it.

"General… I am sorry for the damage that I caused those few nights ago. I had an opportunity to break out and I took it." She said adamantly. Pepper waved it off.

"Nothing that can't be replaced, collateral damage is accounted for in every situation." He said. A small drone poured her a cold glass of water, and she sipped on it. The General's smile disappeared as his tone became more serious. "I suppose… we should get to the reason I contacted you." He said. She nodded and placed the glass on the desk.

"Indeed. It would appear that some of your men are working against you." Nova was blatant, something that Pepper appreciated. "Rather than for you… I hope that the sheep was the only one in your case. The shadows are not easy to fend off." Nova warned.

"The fact that infiltrators have entered are ranks only emphasizes the point that someone thinks that you are a threat. I will have the proper people re-evaluate the profiles, but you leave that to me." Nova smiled and her shoulders relaxed, finally, someone was taking her seriously. " But I need to know something from you Nova, it's obvious that whatever sector… cult or fallen empire that you hail from that someone wants you removed. Someone with enough power to put assassins in my ranks, and jeopardize my military. Something that I do not take kindly to. I need to know just who you are before I decide if you are my enemy or an ally." Pepper needed her to understand that he had an entire system to worry about. That like her, he was a figure with power and authority, when he made decisions, and they had consequences. He had to put Lylat before her, and Nova understood this, she knew that her answer would dictate this man's opinion of her.

Nova sighed, and decided that he needed the truth. She kept her composure strong, and spoke with a confident, fluid voice. "I am the Queen of an ancient race of beings who are destined to protecting the Universe… Apparently." She said cynically. "Though I have to admit, I have never met any other phoenix in my life except for a few. I was kept isolated from the others by a Guardian named Thoe. He has become the Master of Shadows and stands for everything that I fight against." She broke eye contact and looked down at her boots.

"And… I am loosing. My people have been turned against me. They are puppets to his will, and through them he has created an expanding Empire of darkness that alone I cannot stop. I…" She hesitated and took a deep breath, looking at Pepper as she made her point. "I am the incarnation of light. A living symbol of everything good in the Universe, and once I'm gone, there will only be Darkness and chaos." She said, her hands were trembling, and she held them together to keep her composure. Pepper was silent for a long time as he looked at the person before him.

Finally he put his hands together, leaned forward in his chair, and looked her in the eyes. "Nova, you seem like a woman who prefers directness. So that is what I will be. If anyone else had told me that story, I would have had them sent to a mental ward. But after what I saw at the orbital gate, the sleepless nights that it brought… just… what that thing could do… I believe you. I never believed in the super natural before that day." He spoke as if he were confessing, with every word he seemed to age, and grow a little more tired. "Just the fact that we found you in a block of ice from who knows how long ago shows just how desperate what remains of your people are to keep you away from Thoe." He said. Nova looked at him, wondering what he was thinking. She smiled and leaned forward, placing her hand on his wrist.

"To be fair, Thoe told them that I was dead way before I was frozen. I don't know who did that to me." She said.

"So this…Thoe, I can assume that he is as much a threat to your people as he is to Lylat…"

 _And now he knows that she is here, he knows about my system… he'll be coming for her. Pepper was out of options. Leaving her to fate would be the death of them all, and helping her ensured their annihilation._

So he made his decision.

"Thoe has conspired with Terrorists and extremists against the Cornerian government and the further planets of Lylat. By this action, he has declared war on us." He said watching a new light come to Nova's eyes. "And under the Protocols of Military Law, I have total power over the operations that will ensure the safety of Lylat. You will need an elite team that can move quickly throughout the Galaxy in order to keep up with the enemy. And I know just the team." He said. Nova grinned and nodded, glad that he had had a sudden change of heart.

"Are you implying what I think you are?" She said. She wasn't sure that it was the best idea to pair her up with Star Fox, they didn't seem to trust her, and the thought of being on the same ship as Falco seemed like a recipe for disaster.

"Star Fox is perhaps the most skilled, and experienced mercenary team that I can contact. Everything I could throw at them, they have overcome. Despite the contention between you and their ace pilot I have reason to believe that they will be more than welcoming to you. The team respects an individual's skills and determination above all else, if I were you, I would befriend the team's senior member…" Pepper clicked a few bottoms and an image of the old hare appeared on a hologram projector. "Peppy Hair. He's an old friend of mine."

Nova looked at him and frowned. "I guess that I really don't have much of a choice, do I?" She leaned back and crossed her arms. "…Fine. I really need all the help I can get. But I do have a question, has there been any sightings of a Turquoise phoenix in Lylat?" Pepper opened up another screen and typed a few commands. When he finished he looked back at her and shook his head.

"No. But there have been reports of anomalies on one of our planets. There was a blizzard that should have lasted several weeks that suddenly stopped, then began six hours later. It's not a phoenix parse… and to be frank, if it were there would be no way for anyone to tell. More than likely someone would have mistaken her for a pheasant or a phoenix."

"Alright well… thanks anyway." She said and had an epiphany, "Hey… if avians are common here, then that likely means that I will likely go underestimated. I won't have to cover myself up." She said with a smile. Pepper nodded in agreement.

"Aside from your eyes, no one will be the wiser. Pink is a little out there but we have female foxes that are blue and bears that are nearly red. No one will have an idea." He turned back to his monitor. "I'll contact Star Fox for you, and set up a meeting point."

Nova nodded her head and stood up to leave. "Are they still docked here?" She asked.

"The Great Fox is still in geo-synchronous orbit, which means that at least one of them is on the orbital gate. Probably rearming and refilling before heading out. I'll contact Fox McCloud and handle the finer details. Here," he pulled out a data pad and slid it across the polished wood surface of his desk. "This will give you a bit of information on who they are, and their accomplishments. You will find that they are more than qualified." He said. Nova picked up the device and swiped through a couple captured visual files of the team breaking through a massive armada of ships. She had to admit, they were good.

"Thanks. I'll be sure to read up on them." The data pad folded up and snapped on to a part of her belt. Her feathers began to shimmer in the light. "Should I be weary of the one named Falco?"

"He is a loose cannon, and I don't trust him. But Fox does, which is enough for me." She was half way to the door when he was finished talking.

"Good to know."

Fox was sitting in the center of the Great Fox, waves of information flowing from a number of data pads and monitors before his eyes while he casually circled his pistol around his finger. The call that Pepper had promised finally went through to him, his floating chair turned towards the largest monitor in the room. "What can I do for you, General?"

_

Fox made it a rule to always do business in person. This time, he had not set the place and the time. Fox walked over to what he believed was the person in question, and noticed that someone else had similar intentions. Briskly, he made his way over to her and sat down. "Nova?"

"Yes?" She said, she hardly recognized him in full uniform.

"Good to see you again…"He said, his eyes darting to the lizard not too far away. "We're not safe here." He started to walk, and Nova got up to follow him.

"What's the issue?" She said, the two didn't stop as they started to pass through the massive arched hallways of the orbital gates. The white walls shining off the sun's light, and decorative gardens decorating the sides.

"There was someone in the room that was watching you, a lizard. Better to keep moving. He turned to her and grinned. "Nice suit." He commented. Nova grinned at his comment.

"Yeah, I noticed that scumbag watching me. Good eye." She said, Fox so far had proven far more amiable than his comrade.  
"I like to get to know the people that are going to be on my ship, so I have a few questions for you, nothing extreme just a formality."Fox said. Nova nodded.

"Understandable." She said, then they took a turn for the docking bays, the nebulas of sector Z dazzling in the distance.

"What do you know about the people that Thoe can control? How safe are we… right now for example?"

"I don't know how much power he has gained, and what he has this… Andrew fellow doing, but I have to assume that he has his hands in everything. Nowhere is safe… not even your dreadnought." In her mind's eye she could see the schematics of the Great Fox.

"We should assume the worst, if that sheep is anything to go off of then he's manipulating Andrew to create more shadow minions."

Fox grumbled at the lack of information, and the fact that his team would be in danger for the entirety of their operation. "Andrew is as much a zealot as he is an ignorant ape. He's dangerous, but nothing that we can't handle." He said and grinned at Nova, who smiled back in her poise way. The massive form of the Great Fox looked in the screens, the fleets of Corneria patrolling the great capital. Fox was once again leading his team into the unknown… this could be his most dangerous mission yet, and some small part of him relished the idea of going in on what seemed like a simple job that he knew would evolve into something much greater than him.

As for Nova, she was feeling sensation of both excitement and anticipation, finally she was going to bring the fight to Thoe. For once, she wasn't on the run. This time, they would be running from her.


	4. Chapter 4

Nova sat in the hanger on top of a few crates. Her arms crossed, and lost deep in thought. All around her was the hustle of simpler machines that carried out Fox's commands. They worked in near silence, except for the reactors that hummed through the ship, and the beeping of binary communication. Sometimes, a drone would approach the crate and slowly look at Nova. Unsure of how to proceed it would shimmy for a second. Stop, and float away. It made Nova laugh a little, they were like kids almost.

Nova grinned at them, it was fun to watch. But they figured her out, she wasn't about to move. So they went to the other parts of the room, and she had to find a new way to pass the time. She created an image in hand out of light. Her thoughts always came back to him when she was alone. Her last memories with him… dark, so full of regret and things not said. She tried to hold back her tears. But one escaped her. The image faded, falling from her hand like burning sand.

She reached for a vile on her hip, and caught the tear. The vile was at least half full. She couldn't look weak. Not now. Just thinking about him made her eyes water. She thought about letting it out, giving in, but she hadn't gone this far to look weak now. Even after all this time, she found her thoughts lingering back to him. Was it to comfort her? Or was it the fuel to fire? In her mind she had felt she had moved on, but each time Thoe made a move it enraged her and reminded her of the fight. He had ruined her life, and destroyed countless others. All to just get to her. He took her throne, enslaved her people and grew greedy for power.

She smirked, though. Thoe... all power, all know. With all the paranoia that it comes with. While he sits on his throne, she becomes all the more powerful. He would be weak; she would be strong. And he would die. But as soon as the thought came to her she paused, and took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to think like this. It drew him in. It made him more like her. Looking up she could still see Fox. He was checking the shipments on a tablet, typing in commands to the machines who hummed and buzzed around the room. His front turned away from her. Nova thought that she had him figured out pretty well; he was competent in what he did, aggressive, and perhaps overly serious. But above all these things, he was a dare devil. No challenge was too great for him. And this intrigued her...

But Nova's musings were interrupted when Falco stormed by her. Assuming that his frustration was directly related to her.

"She's coming with us?!" He said, Fox took a deep breath, and turned to match Falco's glare.

"That's right." He replied. "That was the one non-negotiable. That Nova come with us. This way if Thoe were to come after with a fleet she would be less likely to be taken. Having her on a mobile base is the best tactical decision." He explained Falco with a level tone. "She's a competent fighter, and more importantly the one asset that we can use in order to accomplish the mission." But the speech betrayed his real feelings on the situation, and even more so he wasn't expecting the outrage from his ace pilot. But even though Falco squawked more than anyone else on the team, his complaints were often with good reason.

"Non-negotiable? What kind of crap is that?! Fox c'mon this has trap written all over it, and were the bate. Pepper is throwing us under the rug." Falco went a little too far, and he regretted saying it immediately. They both knew that wasn't true, Pepper wouldn't do that. After all the missions, the covert operations that they had done under the operations of the Cornerian Army... they had more than earned Pepper's respect.

"Better us, then someone else." Fox said. "Thoe will try, and we'll destroy him. Again and again." Fox left his statement hang in the air, and Falco said nothing. "We'll handle this Falco." But the ace pilot shook his head, he couldn't believe was he was hearing. His mind raced for something to say, to a way to get his leader to see things his way.

"If you don't pull the plug on this, then I'm pulling out. You can count me out of this mission." Fox didn't what to say at first because Falco had never made a claim like that before. They couldn't do this without him. But...where would he go? He was lying. He was trying to pull a fast one to get Nova tossed. And for a moment, Fox really did think about aborting the mission too. Corneria wanted to help her, not them. And for the first time in his career, there was information that had not been shared with him.

When it was just him and the others against Andross, Pepper hadn't hesitated to give Fox every bit of intel that he had. In fact, Star Fox knew more about Andross than some of his peers. Enough that if any of the team were to get caught that it would result a massive security breach in Corneria's security, if they were to be taken prisoner. The same was true with the Aparoids. This time, he was given a name, agreements to the contract, some 'need –to-knows' and the biggest paycheck that he had ever seen. Looking at it with hindsight Fox thought that he had taken the contract too quickly. He did not consider talking to Peppy, Slippy, Falco or Krystal about the dangers. Falco was the only one so far to make any complaints. What if he was right? What if Pepper was really setting them up to fail?

"Noted." Fox said. "Anything else?" But there wouldn't be. Fox's underlying point was that there would not be any more complaints. Fox had called him on his bluff, Falco narrowed his eyes, and said nothing as he brushed past him. Putting as much room between him and Nova as he could. Fox watched him go. There was a second of silence while Fox felt himself calm down. He took a deep breath, relaxed his tensed muscles, and exhaled. Nova had watched the confrontation in silence. There was something else that was bothering Falco. She didn't expect Fox to see it. This, she would keep as a secret for now. She hopped off the crate and the drones buzzed around it. They scrambled over it, and picked it up in a gravity well before flying off with it. They seemed relieved.

"Your ace seems like quite the handful." She stated, Fox grinned and nodded returning to his tablet to see their progress. He was apparently multi-tasking. But she could see through his rouse. He hid the fact that he was trying to figure her out while he still could.

Fox knew that Nova's cognitive abilities were far superior to his own. With every word he said she would have him figured before he could understand her. If what he knew about Phoenicians was accurate (and most of what he knew he hacked from Corneria's information servers), then she was faster, smarter, and far quicker than him at catching things. If the Cornerian were right, then she would be doing loops around him before he realized it. He couldn't trust her, not yet.

"He doesn't like to be left out of the loop when it comes missions. And frankly, neither do I. Usually we know more, a lot more, about the parameters of a mission." He clicked the tablet off again seeing that they were mostly done and looked at her. She had such alluring eyes, he found himself staring before he pulled his attention away. "I'll... show you to where you'll be staying."

She walked in synch with him while they left the hanger and up to the first elevator. "I am sorry that they didn't share more information with you. But being honest there isn't a lot that we know either. This is the most quiet Corneria has ever been about mission parameters." The elevator came to a stop, and they entered deeper into the ship, the humming of the reactor had stopped, and it was quiet. "If there is any way that I can help, or anything that you want to know, I will tell you what I can." She smiled. Fox nodded and thought, if she were honest than perhaps this was his first chance to see if she could be trusted or not. And what she told him would dictate what he thought about her, and if this mission would be aborted or not.

"Where to begin…"

Arina was often called the Jewel of the Eastern Kingdom to those who saw it in their lifetime. It was a center of commerce and many would claim it could compete with the core worlds in its economic and artistic prosperity. Culture, creativity, theory, it all melted and became one here. As did race, class, and ideals. And now, Thoe got to see it his own eyes. Truly, this was a world where no image would ever do it justice, its beauty could only be experienced on its soil.

Celestia steered the ship towards the station that was waiting for them. Thoe had his arms crossed, finishing up with their traffic control tower, they were early. They seemed nervous, Celestia could understand that, but compared to where she was sitting, muscles tense and beak clasped shut, they had it easy. She clicked a few buttons of a command pad and nodded to herself. "We're all set to land at the Aseriyan Gate. Traffic control has recognized your statues and we have been given special permissions. It will be thirty minutes before we dock." She told Thoe, the large phoenix nodded and left without a word. Celestia realized she was holding her breath. The danger was gone for now. Alone with her thoughts. Something that was both good and bad. Most of them were dealing with her sister, and her last moments on Seva. All before she said goodbye to her kingdom and her right to call herself a Queen. It didn't last long though, Nova stormed into the cockpit.

"I am so sick of him!" the young queen huffed, "Why can't he just leave well enough alone?!" She snapped at Celestia who leaned back and set the ship to auto pilot. This was a routine, a fight followed by counseling. No progress was made. And things got worse. But it was hard to watch Nova be suffocated by him. There was nothing she could do. There wasn't anything either of them could do to stop him. This was the answer she was looking for, civilization. A chance for Nova to spread her wings and get away. At least for awhile.

It didn't help that Nova got into trouble with other males. Thoe was just the worst offender. If another man got close to her he could very well kill them on the spot. Nova didn't need that on her conscience. Celestia dealt with that every day. There wasn't anything to tell her this time, her knowledge had run out and so had her patience. Nova sat at the navigator's console solemnly. Thoe was in the back choosing what she and he would wear. Celestia was not a concern.

It would do them good to get out the wild. Celestia remembered that this would be the first time that Nova would ever see a city. The thought of it lightened the mood, the only one she had ever seen herself was Seva's capital. This would be a fun experience for the both of them. She thought that if this was what a single planet of theirs looked like, then what could a core world be like? Or the capital itself? Celestia had trouble running a single planet and she could not imagine what it must be like to run Galaxies of territory! She hated to be reminded of just how small her power really was.

Sooner or later, she would get to see it for herself.

Shifting between bedsheets, moaning, and caressing. The smell of candles, incense, and passion filled the chamber. The breathing, caressing, and pleasure from the three bodies while their fingers ran across one another. Heart beating ecstasy and sensitive skin rubbed against one another. One man and two women, the man holding them both close, they were moaning, messaging him, caressing him, kissing him. They were overwhelmed buy it all, one would fall faint, and the other would take her place, and sometime they would go together, or both fall. And he would please them all the same. They smiled, and moaned, letting him use them while they used him.

And he loved every moment of it. Every time it would rise, and he would feel... sweet release. Only to start again with greater passion. All of them moaning together as they enjoyed one another. The room smelled like them now. The bedsheets had been thrown to the side, they were too perfect to hide underneath.

When it was done, and they had all been satisfied, they rested. And in the hour his communicator began to beep. "War master Veron?" The caller said, adjusting the drone's camera to find him. The largest form under the remaining bedsheets shifted and fell away to reveal his large, sleek form. And the two women that had taken him. The sentry hesitated and drove the small drone away. Veron grinned and covered his lower body. Then the caller turned back around. "I...I apologize for the intrusion, War master, but Lord Thoe of House Ignitus has entered the system and will docking soon... with the Queen." This last bit of information was said with a bit of reverence. But the rest was panic. There was not a soul alive in the Empire that did not know of the Lord's wrath, and shorter patience. But the prodigy would not be cowed so easily.

"Have the guards ready for their arrival then. I would assume that the halls have been decorated?" he asked, the blue Guardian on the monitor nodded. "Then raise the banners when they land. And inform the people that their Queen has come home. Be certain that his Lordship and her Majesty are welcomed like the nobility that they are. I will be ready shortly." He said calmly. The Guardian nodded and the link disappeared. Veron walked back into his bedroom, still grinning from the night. The two Harlequins were resting in his bed.

One of them looked up at him with a grin on her beak, Rynese, a scarlet phoenix with tints of blue and purple graciously painted on her feathers winked at him as he came back in. She admired her prey, while the other, Thylia, shifted in her tranquility. The thin sheets barely covering up her body. Thylia was yellow and blue, and unlike her friend, was tired from the night's events.

"Then the Queen is finally coming home?" Rynese asked, "Will she be as beautiful as the last?" Thylia echoed, their very beings so in tuned mentally that they read each other's thoughts as if they were one being. A rare trait only found in Phoenician women. Those who are compatible were brought from every corner of the Empire to see if they were compatible, and then their blood was traded in an ancient practice. This process would turn them into some of the greatest worrier-pairs that the empire will ever see. Often, they partook in every act together, even carnal as Veron had discovered.

"Even more so, if what they say about Trymera was true." Veron conceded. The tall, muscular Phoenician male stood naked before the two women, allowing his robes to fall away, and the two harlequins cooed at him. Even among the Guardians, Veron was a rare sight to behold, "Since we are short on time, I feel that we must prepare. And leave the ... other desires aside for now." The two blushed as they slowly left the bed and clothed themselves.

Nova, now in the best robes that Thoe could buy her, waited just before the lowering hatch. She was eager to get away from her mentor. Thoe stood beside her, his body close to hers and Celestia in tow behind them. Nova was as ever radiant, her powers still unknown to even her. When she descended the ramp she was astonished at the sight of the before. People were cheering and there was a full company of worriers. Lines of Praetorian Guards, their spears held in salute and as still as statues. Displays of elemental energy and sheer energy played over her head, a display of power that no other race in the universe could hope to match. They marched, with every passing guard the cheers grew louder. Nova could see endless different races from all around, crowding the guards in hope to catch a glance of her with their own eyes.

But the crimson giant would have none of it. Thoe huffed at the lesser species, believing that their presence was an offense, to him, it was indignant to let them look at upon her. No one was worthy to view the Queen except perhaps the champions and the leaders of the houses.

They did not deserve the right.

But he would suffer this insult to her, because he had been gone for more than a decade and a half. Out to find the Queen, out to find his bride. Things would become dull without him. He would see that everything be made as it should be.

But Nova smiled at her people, smiling at them. She looked up at times to see how the colors would weave and change. She thought that it was nice to see the people who appreciated her, even if she did not know them. She was nothing like her mentor, she enjoyed seeing the diversity of people who happily welcomed her back. She started to blush. Celestia smiled, sure, the young girl loved to be admired, but she was still humble before them. Something that most leaders lacked, even when their people liked them.

It made her smile to see Nova relax. But her expression flashed to fear, Thoe puffed out his chest, and he seemed to become even bigger. The crowd grew silent. A new creature had appeared, kneeling before Nova and holding two glowing blades. Her head bowed to hide her eyes. She rose, spinning her blades, and keeping her pose poise. Her weight in the tips of her talons. Her head feathers fell low; she was a phoenix. Her blades danced all around Nova, when she made eye contact with the Queen she giggled.

"And so, the Queen returns home, to lead her empire." The voice was chanted in a beautiful way that only a phoenix could. She was gone with a blink, Nova lost track of her movements. For a moment, she thought there were two, then six... ten ... or was it all one?

"Indeed, her beauty is as unmatched as prophecy foretold." It sounded like another voice, that once again no one could locate. Nova took another step forward, and the march continued on. Without the crowd the cheer.

"A King, so ambitious and bold." Thoe looked over his shoulder, but no one was there. But unlike the admonished king, she caught the… a Harlequin. But as soon as she was there, she was gone.

"Her beauty, impossible for just one to behold…"

"That she sits on a throne, like the Empress of Old…"

"For a tradition that only she, can uphold." They finished the last chant together. Indeed, now Nova could clearly see that there two beautiful and wild harlequins. One holding blades of fire, the other beams of lightening. The stood to the sides of an even larger figure. His feathers a deep shade of lavender, edged and coal black and white. His heavy armor, mixed with grand mail and thick, red robes stood with tallest in the room. He was handsome, and both Nova and Celestia were lost in his bright blue eyes for a moment. When Nova came forward, the two Harlequins sheathed their blades and dramatically bowed after balancing on the tip of a single talon. Then Veron bowed before her. The room followed, all except for Celestia and Thoe. Nova thought he was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes upon. Her heart rate increased in her chest. She blushed with embarrassment. Feeling out of place when others bowed before her.

"Nova, twenty-eight Diyazia of the Cycle of Light laid down by her Greatness, the First and Last Empress of the Guardians, I am honored to be the one to welcome you to the capital world of Arina. Welcome to your Empire, my Queen. Welcome home." The Praetorians slammed their spears once on the ground, and the audience screamed louder than before. Veron and the Harlequins rose, and they began to walk. Nova's new admire's following them.

"You're Veron. The newest War master that I have been kept so well informed about." Thoe said, the two men walked together side by side before Nova and Celestia. Celestia noticed that the Harlequins were once again nowhere to be seen, but somehow obvious to only Nova. They seemed to be almost entertaining her.

Veron gave a light node of his head, in full armor Thoe still had a bit more on him in both muscle density and height. But still Veron seemed unfazed by it. "That is correct my Lord, I hope that I am meeting your expectations." There was humility in his voice that Thoe lacked, and it was one more thing that Nova thought was attractive about him. Celestia swore there were hearts in her eyes. That scared her.

"I have no reason to not admit that you exceed your peers. And that so far you have met my expectations." Thoe conceded. A compliment, as minor as it was, was very rare from him. Did he approve? Celestia decided not to get her hopes up.

"You're a War master? What does that title represent?" Nova asked eagerly, shoeing ow excited she was to meet someone new. He smiled at her, he was easily a head taller than her and the armor made him taller.

"Generally, a War master is an older worrier who has a long legacy of successful battles. Once a Guardian reaches the title, they are given a thousand legions, and has been given the right to create, expand, and then rule over a segment of his Queen's Kingdom. A kingdom is a segment of the Empire led by one of the chosen matriarchs. Also called a Queen. Usually the Diayzia appoints a Queen to rule a kingdom while she rules from Rynicky. Of course a War master is chosen for more than their battle prowess, they are also chosen for their skills and decision making. I must lead and respect the people who I annex. As is expected of all Guardians."

While they talked they moved through the city station, the walls were painted in murals by artist who had mastered their craft over the course of several thousand years. Around them were the mile-long city-scapes, and the ever spanning lightyears of gas and dust. All of which painted itself like a mural. The stars lit the void around them, and tens of thousands of space ships of all makes and propose flew around the city. Even on the cosmic level the Guardians had the power to manipulate the heavens themselves.

"Yes, and if memory serves correctly you have led campaigns into three galaxies, all of which were a success." Thoe surmised, seemingly to be unimpressed. Veron nodded, still humble.

"I like to think that I have been successful, even at such a young point in my life. Of course, no mission is without cost; be it the time it took to win the lesser races trust or perhaps wage a war of attrition. I spend most of my time these days helping rebuild the places that we had to destroy. Just one step in healing the wounds that may or may not have been caused by our intervention, and eventually bringing them into the Queen's light." Nova smiled at Veron's tone. He genuinely believed in what he was doing.

"My mentor was telling me that you are the youngest phoenix to ever reach the rank War master. Is this true? Are you really only one-eighty-six?" For a creature that lives for at least a million years the age was hardly adolescent. More so, no War master had even existed at such an early age before Veron. So what made him so special to the leaders of the houses? What had made him so special to Trymera?

"It is." He replied. They walked into another hanger where a number of shuttles were docked. One especially decorated one was waiting to receive them. This shuttle would take them to the surface of Ariana, where Celestia, Thoe, and Nova would be staying in the sky towers. More specifically the hanging wall gardens. He was the first to walk to the hatch, and he offered his hand to Nova. She was excited to say the least, and she blushed as she took his hand and stepped on board. Her feathers fluffed just a little. The one dead giveaway.

Thoe rolled his eyes, and walked on board, he did not need help. From anyone. Finally, was Celestia, Veron also offered his hand and she gradually took it. When they touched she could smell him. He liked Nova back, it was all in his body language, and his smell. This was really, really bad. And this time Celestia would not be able to intervene. She could only think about what Thoe could do to a city. This was her worst nightmare, it wasn't an animal that was getting more attention than him this time, it was another man!

How long would Celestia be able to hide this? How long could she blind Thoe? Her thoughts already knew the answer.

-Not long.-

"I see..." Fox said. Nova smiled at him and nodded. "I understand, then. I... I know what it's like to lose someone close to you. I will do what I can to make sure that we see this mission through, you have my word Nova. Thoe will be stopped, one way or another."

"I know that you will do everything in your power to see that it happens, I appreciate what you are doing, Fox. You, and your team. If we all manage to accomplish my goals, you will be rewarded." She smiled gratefully. They stopped at her door, it's view screen went from having a blank screen to having her name. Then it opened for the both of them, she stepped in while Fox chose to stay on the other side. This room was less Spartan than her last quarters, but sparsely decorated. On many levels, she appreciated this. She would be with them for a while, perhaps this could be a home of sorts.

"We'll talk rewards later. After you get settled in and this is all behind us." Fox said. "We're not all as materialistic as you might think. We'll find out what Oikonny is up and what ties he has to Thoe. And if this guy is as bad as you describe, then there's more on the line than where my next pay check is coming from." He told her. She smiled at him, he was genuine, and noble. She didn't know anyone could be like that in this Universe.

"Thank you, Fox. I will be sure see you first thing at the hour of debriefing." Then the hatch closed between them. Fox turned away and low and behold, there was Falco leaning on the wall, leering at him.

"So, how much of what she told you do you think is the truth?" Fox motioned for him to follow him. He took a second to think of a response, and he looked at his wrist command pad.

"More than I want to." He admitted.

"That's a surprise. All that talk about shadow beasts, enslaved phoenixes, billion-year-old empresses... this all sounds like something out of a fantasy story." Falco said. They walked into one of the many recreation rooms across the inner habitation area of the Great Fox. They sat on a couch, and Falco turned on the holo. Background noise to help them relax. "Not gonna lie, that shadow thing gave me the creeps." Falco said. Fox went through the fridge to get them both something to drink, he passed Falco beer, Fox was more in the mood for scotch.

"This all sounds like insanity wrapped inside of paranoia. The Guardians have had a shift in power, something that they hadn't had in millions of years. I can't image that."

"Then don't." Falco replied and took a swig of beer. "Makes life easier."

"After some of the things we saw in the last couple days who says that she's lying? What if she is telling us the whole truth? There's plenty of public evidence to back her up." Fox immediately recalled Andross, there was a point science crossed away from beneficial into something maddening. Andross went there, turning a whole planet into a weapon. And worse. "We're not prepared for this."

"I think she's chalk full of lies fur ball." Falco said. "Take everythin' she say's to you with a grain of salt."

"You seem to be hiding something Falco." A new voice said, this one was a woman's. Krystal had walked in, silent as ever. Fox smiled at her, she leaped over the couch and sat beside him.

"You wish. You hear how she talks, right? It's all... dramatic. She's a drama Queen." He said, but neither of them laughed.

"Your hiding something..." Krystal said and narrowed her eyes.

"Don't bother with the telekinetic powers Krystal, I know how to throw up a barrier. And we talked 'bout personal space in someone's head." He said. She leered, but grinned and consented. "But I did hear her say Cerinia. Didn't you say something about...?"

"Our rulers were two Queens. One of ice and one of fire." But that is all I can remember." Krystal said. "Anyways, I hear that we are sharing our ship with a new teammate?" She looked at both of them, Falco shook his head, drinking more beer.

"Nova's the name. She's a fire manipulator. I don't like the idea of coincidences but it's possible that there is a relation. I ain't ever seen one but she's got powers like nothin' I have ever seen. Who knows what she can do." Falco said. "They were avians too, weren't they?"

"Do you think?"

"It's possible." Fox said. "Maybe she's a member of the race the ruled Cerinia."

"What's her feather colour?" Krystal asked.

"Pink." They said together. Krystal paused and thought for a moment.

"If that's the case, I want the chance to get to know her better. One of the rulers of my people was pink and the other was teal. It's a long shot, but maybe she knows why..." Krystal teetered off. Neither Fox nor Falco pushed her on it. They both already knew. Cerinia was a touchy subject, just like Katt, James, Vixy, and Fara. She hadn't even told Fox everything that happened of Cerinia, and she still had nightmares sometimes. Fox had pushed her to let them take her there. But to his regret she hadn't lied; Cerinia was just a ball ash and radiation.

"After debriefing I'll introduce you, but give her some space for now, she's sleeping."

"I think she would make a good teammate." Krystal said.

"Fox, don't…" Falco said.

"I'll consider it, but I don't want to make any promises." Fox said.

"Thanks." Krystal said. Falco rolled his eyes and finished his bear. He was just going to have to deal with this. 

"What do you mean he got caught?!" Andrew snapped, everyone in the room shuttering at his high pitched voice. A smaller ape before him shivered in his boots. But it was not Andrew they were afraid of, it was the thing behind him. A massive, black creature with burning red eyes. "We got word that your infiltrator infected himself with the dark matter and turned himself into a shadow beast. The Queen freed him and returned him to his original state soon after though. The Cornerian Government has him in custody and are denying his release."

Oikonny's hand curled into a fist, and with a roar that was not his own, he smashed the table beside him. The room was silent while he calmed down. "Incompetence… INCOMPETENCE! Leave us!" He said, and they scattered out the room. Oikonny took a deep breath, letting the darkness fill the room.

"Mortals." It rumbled. "Perhaps I am wasting my time with you. You cannot even kill a half comatose queen." Andrew looked at him and growled.

"And yet somehow YOU cannot complete the task yourself? Do not forget it was you who sought me out, Thoe." He said, but the apparition said nothing.

"You don't understand, do you?" All of a sudden Oikonny's body began to break out, his skin and fur turned black and grew, it took control. "This new power, these new abilities... these aren't gifts, ape. These, are strings. I decide what to do with you, and if you disappoint me, I will make you another pawn in my legions. Do not forget that." He let Oikonny go, and the ape looked up at him with fear.

"Wh…What is she to you anyways?"

"She is... everything." Thoe said, his eyes closed as he reminisced. Oikonny felt a cold wind cut through him. Chilling his bones. "She is my prize, Andrew. She is my beautiful wife, and soon to be slave." At the point that Thoe was at now, Nova was his last great goal. If he could get her he could be the true master of the universe. With the power of light at his command, the one last jewel on all the realm. Then he could take his rightful place as the King of the Empire. All he had to do, was find her.

"Do as you are told, Andrew, and you will be rewarded. But fail me again, and it will be your last mistake." Thoe disappeared from his sight. Leaving Oikonny alone in the dark room. He looked down at his hands; the black spots were still there. He was as much as puppet to Thoe as his ambitions. And so, no deal was too steep for him. He would be the ruler of Lylat. And with the power of darkness, he would become more powerful than even Andross. All that was in his way was one little bird; Nova.

He looked through the screen of a holo-monitor. In it was the Great Fox, and about it was Nova. He let himself smile.

"And so, all the pieces are in play." He said. "Now, just to place the bait." He typed a few commands into his keyboard, one little code that would guide the Star Fox Team, and Nova, right to where he wanted them...

It was nice to be able to let your guard down. Nova felt safe here, she let herself relax on her new bed. This was the best case scenario, she was on a mobile ship and had five people working with her. That was enough for now. She smiled and pulled out a tablet from a hip pocket that Beltino had given her just as she left the Orbital gate. Usually when she turned it on it would have a menu screen, but for some odd reason the screen was glitched up and covered in static. She tapped it on the side, but nothing changed. After trying to find the problem she gave up and placed it on her nightstand. Instead, she used her computer.

Typing in a few command she looked up images of Fichina, as well as topographical data and the current weather. There was a lot of information that the machine showed her. All of it very useful to her. But once again, after a couple minutes the computer's screen became staticky and she couldn't see anything out of it. She hit it a couple times out of frustration before giving up again. She looked back at the supposedly perfect tablet.

"Hunk of junk, thanks for nothing guys." She muttered. She was about to walk into the shower when all of sudden the tablet began to make noises.

"Nova?! Nova?! Is that you?! Nova do you read me?!" She ran towards the tablet and picked it up, it auto-adjusted to the signal and Nova smiled with excitement.

"Celestia!" She laughed happily. "Oh my stars it's been forever!" Seven years was nothing for a Phoenix, but Nova and Celestia had such a close bond that it had felt like eons. The turquoise avian on the other side smiled, the panic gone from her voice. "I'm at a space station just outside the outer asteroid belt, I thought that maybe they had scavenged you but I went the wrong way! But I monitored the data from Fichina and noticed that you recently left Corneria. Looks like they picked you up!"

"Clever girl," Nova grinned "I am so happy to see your pretty face. Listen, we need to meet up where you are... can you send the coordinates?" Something behind Celestia made a banging noise and the signal cut out for a moment.

"Nova, I'm not going to be able to talk much longer, the place I'm at there's shadow beasts everywhere!"

"Give me the location and we'll be there! I've got Star Fox." Nova said, certain she knew these guys. Celestia hesitated and held her beak shut, gun fire and laser sounded behind her from far off. The memories of what she did to her friend came back, stitched together by the darkness that was in her body and starting to re-awaken. She was losing control and didn't want to endanger her. The other memories resurfaced with them; Falco. She and him had a major fall out a few years back, and the sudden disappearance had left her feeling depressed for the next three years. It was going to be awkward... But Nova was more important.

"I've sent it. Don't take too long Nova." Celestia's signal cut out finally. Her face was gone again. Nova nodded.

"You can count on me."


	5. Chapter 5 Part 1

Nova burst out of her room, looking to the left and the right of her in the hopes that one of them was close by. Then she took off towards the bridge knowing one of them would be there. Even on a ship as large as the Great Fox Nova's swift movements carried her far and fast. She was agile, sidestepping the small bots that walked and patrolled through the halls.

The doors to the bridge opened with a hiss to reveal Peppy turning around to address her. Rob was to the side at navigation. "I have a lead." She announced firmly, walking right up to the old hare. Nova and him had not formally introduced, but there was time for that later.

"Where?" Peppy asked, sensing the urgentness of her tone. He was briefly informed of her presence by Rob and Fox prior to her boarding. At first, Peppy was not quite sure his eyes were telling him the truth. Nova was no ordinary avian and he was quite sure he was seeing things. He had to blink a few times finding himself lost in her eyes and he cleared his throat bringing himself back to reality.

"A backwards station called Bookworm's Hideaway, heard of it?" She asked bringing the tablet with the coordinates out. She tossed it to Peppy and the old hair caught it easily and typed in the information on the command centre of the Great Fox. All of a sudden the ship lurched forward and made a sudden course correction. Nova's heart was beating so hard in her chest she swore Thoe was in the room with her. Finally, she was coming after him.

Far away in another part of the ship Fox and Falco felt the massive dreadnought shake under their feet. Causing them to lose their balance for a second as the inertia dampeners calibrated to the sudden change in synthetic gravity. Both of them stopped what they were doing and immediately rushed for the bridge.

Krystal came in. Peppy was at the helm redirecting their course and Nova was with him, she quickly put it all together. "Where are we headed?"

"A small space station located in Sargasso known as Bookworm's Hideaway." Nova replied, Krystal nodded but had never heard of it. She, like Peppy had not been formally introduced to Nova but she had already figured her out in a few seconds of meeting her. Behind her Slippy had rushed into the door, panicking from the belief that a system had been damaged. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the three standing around with Nova's tablet.

"Was the sudden course change really necessary?" He croaked. "All this space and you're trying to throw this thing out of balance?" He scolded. Nova smirked but hid a snicker, the small toad sounded funny when he was mad, his voice raised two whole pitches at least. Krystal grinned and walked out of the command room, stopping Falco and Fox who had just arrived.

"Armor up, boys."

The others rushed to prepare themselves in the arming chamber. Nova returned to her room in order to grab something important that she'd forgotten in the moment. In that time she started to feel sluggish… then she remembered she hadn't had a good night's rest in a long time. Now that she'd had one, her body was starting to tell her just how far she had pushed herself... She didn't like how it felt.

The door opened for her but instead of finding her one possession she looked at the bed and curled up on top of it. _Twenty minutes… just twenty minutes…_ she thought to herself and closed her eyes. But she knew what waited there, behind her eyelids... always waiting for the moment she let her guard down…. 

" _You still have a chance to save yourself, my queen. All it takes is two little words…_ " He chuckled with a voice that shook the earth. Nova felt that all she could do was shake her head. It happened again. Her world was doused in fire. The being before her alight with dark flames and shadows. His wrath had a form… one that burned entire worlds. He began to approach her and Nova backed away to find a dark wall of fire. She couldn't push it back. It wasn't obeying her commands like a normal flame would have … she was trapped. Small hands grabbed her legs and pulled her into the black abyss. Thoe was right before her grinning evilly, flames escaping his eyes and beak. He had plans for her.

She didn't want to die… but she didn't want to be his. She felt the light fall from her eyes, tears of radiance that fell into a pool of darkness. And there they faded and died. Thoe stopped just before her, the giant grinned and reached out to grab her neck.

But another figure put himself between them. He thrust his hand out, and a wave of light launched Thoe back into the darkness. "That's enough Thoe." The figure's words were barely a whisper. But Nova heard them within her mind. Her heart ached at the form of Veron. His bright soul standing her. She felt relief. The fire faded and the darkness fled before a sphere of light that he placed around them.

But just out of the light, stood Thoe. A low rumble of fury brought the shadowy flames back, and the darkness began to envelope the small sphere of light. Nova wanted to look down and away. "I'm here Nova." Veron whispered again. "I'll protect you with my life…" then saw the tears of light shining in the darkness beneath her, they came through the dark and stood to the sides of Veron. Then they took forms of their own. Celestia appeared, and then the Harlequins, Rynese and Thylia, then more and more Guardians. The sphere of light expanded, as hundreds then thousands of Guardians came before her and Thoe. All of them shining brightly with courage against the Darkness. Even in this black Inferno, Nova realized she could be safe. She felt relieved that she wasn't alone.

But five lights stood out among the Guardians. They were nearly blinding, even to her. She looked through the crowd at them. They weren't even phoenixes. She made out the outline of one though… he was a avian of some kind. And something told her, deep down, that these five lights would be her salvation. It wasn't a voice. It was an instinct. That five heroes would stand before the darkness to protect the light. It was a prophecy.

Then a Black Phoenix charged out of the Shadows and lashed out at all of them. Light shattered like glass. The Darkness poured in like water, and everyone around was set aflame. Nova would never be able to forget how they screamed, it was forever burned into her memory. The light was replaced with their ashen remains. She closed her eyes and held herself, curled into a ball, and despairing. She felt the wind dance across her feathers. The air was hot with fire from the sun. She opened her eyes.

The world had changed. Everything around her was charred and ashen. The atmosphere was nearly gone. And she knew that on the wind's breath, were the screams of all those who had sided with her were nought but ash on a dying world. Nova chose to stand, her hands and knees sinking slightly into cinders. She was clothed again in elegant white robes, but she could see that her veins were pulsing with darkness. Shrill whisperings plagued her ears. She was all alone here. The sky was fading to red. She looked to the star, there too was the black veins. Every solar flare was black against the blood red sun. And once again Nova knew that this was how everything would end. The stars lamented, and the Darkness reigned supreme.

Tears of light still fell from her eyes like blood from a wound. She desperately tried to catch them only to have them evaporated. She failed every time. Just like in her life. She had failed everyone. And everything. The voices whispered this… and she believed them.

The star faded more, and then there were no stars in the sky. Nova heard the shrill of the black phoenix. When she looked up again, Thoe was standing before her in his cosmic form. Darkness fell from his wings like mist. He grinned down at her and spoke with his voice, but somehow, she could hear it drowned out her own thoughts. He was in her mind. He was in her presence. Thoe was everywhere and he would have her.

" _I told you that I would find you. And now, you will regret defying me_." His talon encircled her, and the darkness consumed the light.

It had only been a few days since Nova, Celestia, and Thoe had arrived on Arina, and Celestia had noticed that Nova was far more at peace here. For the first time in her life, the young Queen had some freedom away from Thoe and his constant mission to control her life. She flourished here in the civilized realm, where culture was complex and billions of people lived and worked together. She had time now to spread her wings, and she radiated with happiness and confidence. Celestia couldn't ask for more.

Or actually she could.

True it was a relief that having Nova and Thoe separate took a lot of weight off her shoulders, but it caused her to be more mindful of what that entailed. She was spending more time with the young Warmaster, Veron. For the most part the two were always with the Harlequins Rynese and Thylia, blinding Thoe to Nova's ever growing infatuation with him.

And who could blame her? Celestia thought. Veron treated her with the respect and dignity worthy of a Queen. Something Thoe had never done… something, she realized, no man had ever done for her in her young life.

Celestia could tell just from what she had observed with Veron was that he had no intention of moving in on the young Queen. It was common knowledge that she was to be Thoe's. Though Veron had noticed the cold shoulder that Nova gave Thoe.

Indeed, Veron found it obvious that the fair maiden was instead attracted to him, and he knew that was dangerous. Nova acted differently around him. She was flirtatious with him and despite the fact that if Thoe found out it be very dangerous for both of them… Veron found he didn't care what Thoe thought. He was not the man people painted him to be. Perhaps… his Master had been right about Thoe all along. Maybe Aldao's cynical outlook had more accuracy than his own.

Despite the danger, the primal part of him couldn't help but fantasize. The alpha in him was excited at the thought of wooing her… taking her for himself. He reminded himself of who she was, and who he was. He needed to resist that urge. Every man in the Empire felt that way about the Queens. It was… an allure. Trymera had it. She used it quite often, as he recalled. But still no male except Oridenesh, her Lord Protector, had ever been truly close to her. Nova had it in the same way, unparalleled physical beauty, and divine for that alone she was. Both in body and appearance. But she was more than that. So full of surprises. Nova was strong and independent, shrewd and intelligent, and yet despite this she was… kind. To everyone. Barely sixteen and already Trymera was pale to her Diyazia. That made her very, very easy to be around.

He stayed close though to ensure her safety. Aldao told him the stories… including the tournament to be crowned the Queens Lord Protector. Aldao had fought Thoe along with Lord Pyren before the Champion of House Thylos mysteriously vanished. Thoe's power was unparalleled, and so was his temper and ambition. Around him Nova couldn't be safe. And so as long as they are here on Arina he would make sure to protect her. From anything, or anyone. It calmed his mind and assured him that what he was doing was right. For in what better way could he protect the light than to guard it's incarnation?

With Celestia, the two of them were together much of the time. Thoe was away with the masters of the Guardians, running his Empire and her Kingdom's. And the further Celestia saw them apart, the more she could see how close Veron and Nova were becoming… the more people around them could see they were becoming. Only Thoe seemed oblivious. And _that_ is what worried Celestia. Eventually Thoe would find out.

The water in the warming pools was very tranquil and calming, and around the circle of the pool were small flowers and shrubs to provide perfect privacy. Nova took a deep breath, and allowed herself to relax. It was rare that she found herself alone and she felt that she was entitled to it. Her feet touched the edge of the water and slowly sunk in. It steamed around her and sunk into her feathers, cleansing every pore and soothing every aching muscle. When the pool reached her neck she breathed in the steam, and the aroma of flowers. Her loose robes came to her sides, but her scarlet cape rose and floated. Then she closed her eyes, and permitted her mind to soften and be unguarded...

Nova's mind wandered to the most wonderful places she had seen, the wonderful people she had met, and the creatures she had met, as few as those were. She put her focus on those thoughts, coming to peace with the fact that one day, she would be free. Eventually, she would be free. Though the lavender brush and blue skies of worlds she had seen she danced happily. But her thoughts brought her back to the darkness. Slowly the meadow warped and changed into a dark, misty forest. In the blackened bush and dead tree branches she saw red eyes leering at her. Her mind began to burn. Suddenly what was not dark burned. She closed her eyes trying to make it go away but her senses were no longer hers. Thoe appeared from bursting flames, commanding her. Watching her every move and her every decision. It was always bad, it was always came down to him telling her she was to listen to him. He controlled her life. He pulled her into a room filled with Guardians. They were applauding. Nova could faintly hear a voice, _Nova_ it called. She looked all around at the applauding people. This was a nightmare… this was her wedding. Her and Thoe's marriage. _...Nova…_ it was in her head, it was in her ears. She couldn't find it but it was there. Her heart rate increased and she found herself afraid. The applause grew louder. She couldn't hear over the clapping.

 _Nova don't let them control you!_

The voice belonged to a woman. It was a scream that deafened her ears and blinded her mind. She collapsed and held her head, shaking slightly with sweat and panic. Everyone was still clapping. Louder and louder. She ran through the crowd, hitting a door and hearing it give as she slammed through. Her body burning a little, her feathers melting the floor. She smelt boiling plastic, she was in the kitchen, and on the table was a pile of pink ashes. Then the voices were gone. The crowed pulled in from the walls. Their very forms melting and trudging closer to her. Whispering her name. Mindless and enclosing. She backed away, pulling herself to her feet. She felt hands around her waist, wanting heat enveloping her body. Thoe looked down at her, his breath on her neck… She shuddered and squirmed trying to get away, but no matter how far she ran, no matter how far she went, she couldn't get away. Thoe was always with her, smothering her…

Nova's eyes opened and water filled her lungs. She pushed her head above water and inhaled. Coughing and blinking water out of her eyes. She quickly shook off her trance, and wondered just what had happened to her, She stood up, and felt herself spinning. Nova looked at the reflection of the moon in the water, focusing her attention on it. She let her sense take in the sound of humming insects and fluttering creatures of the evening. Singing their own songs. When she felt grounded she cleared her mind. Taking a deep breath and relaxing. Feeling happy again. But then she felt something large curl around her shoulder. And let a small groan leave her beak, and rolled her eyes.

"Mind if I join you?" Thoe's voice was deep, and for Nova, he sounded like two stones grinding one one another. Her body was against his. His massive biceps around her neck. He pulled her closer to his firm body, Nova could swear that his muscles had muscles. She scooted away and from him as his arms moved down her chest. He pretended to fix his head feathers with water. Nova didn't bother to respond. He wouldn't listen to what she had to say. It didn't matter what she said. Thoe wasn't going anywhere.

"Nova, my dear… I have brought you a gift." A condescending grin spread across his beak as he looked down at her. Nova rolled her eyes and looked down at the water. But secretly she was interested in the gift. She hoped that he might back off a little, but it was doubtful. Thoe was single minded.. and obsessed. That was the Ingitus in him.

"Oh? And what would that be?" She was hesitant to ask him. Thoe reached behind his back, and her beak dropped in surprise. He held the most beautiful headdress Nova could imagine. Trymera's crown. She had seen images of it before but she had always wanted to hold it. To actually see it before her… it was elegant and crafted with artistry she did not know. And now it was before her, in Thoe's hands. A big smile and beaming eyes emanated from Nova, he was actually thinking about her.

"Is that..?" she asked eagerly. He nodded and continued to grin.

"Queen Trymera's crown. Now, I have made a few changes since her passing to better fit you. The original sapphires and aquamarines were removed and replaced with I have infused rubies, amethysts, and pink diamonds to it's frame. Highly expensive ones, I assure you."

Nova continued to smile, he remembered her favourite colours. He even remembered how much she had wanted to see the Queen's crown. She didn't think he had this in him…

That's when her suspicion hit her.

"...Finally I spent several hours changing the colour from gold to rose gold. As you have made a great interest in it these last few years. Now… my fair lady. It can be yours." Nova's suspicions were washed away. He had listened to her as well. She had tears in her eyes she was so happy. Not only for the crown but for his behaviour. It was like he was his old self again.

"Oh Thoe, it's beautiful. Thank you…" She smiled and gave him a hug. Her hands unable to reach all the way around him. But his hands were large enough to cover her back and support her in the embrace. An old embrace they had not shared in years. 

From the small of jungle foliage that outlined the pools, Celestia watched the events unfolding. Watching her and Thoe and hug made her assume that perhaps they were beginning to make amends…

"Princess Celestia…"

She heard her name and nearly hit her head on a branch jumping up. Veron was standing behind her, smiling curiously. Celestia relaxed, and realized that he had addressed her formally. Something no one had done in nearly a hundred years… it was very kind of him. He treated her with respect. Unlike Thoe...

"Oh! Afternoon, Lord Veron." She nodded and bowed slightly. Veron gave her a genuine smile.

"Please, there is no need for that you're majesty. You are technically of higher status than I." Veron said. He was resplendent in his white cape, which were adorned to his armor from two simple looking silver shoulder pads. A thin silver chain kept the cape fastened around his chest. A light wind blew its ends gently in the breeze. Celestia realized she was staring and blushed. He was quite alluring…

But unlike Nova she knew how to control herself around him.

"If that is the case than I will request that you do not address me as princess. It's just Celestia now." She explained with a sigh.

Veron gave a light smile and shrewdly bowed his head. But looking in her eyes, he could see all of her pain. All of the guilt and sorrow that she carried with her.. And a part of him hoped that she could find peace here on Arina. He heard of the stories about Seva and it's mysterious Ice Princess. It's almost unnatural blizzards… and he knew from Pyren… secretly… that she had suffered with so much. And despite all the horrible things fate had thrown at her, she rose again and again… like any true Phoenix. She was stronger than she thought she was. And she was a hero in his eyes. It was an honour to know her.

"You are very loyal to the Queen, and she is very lucky to have a friend as great as you." he said, he thought of some way to change the subject and get her to smile, but nothing came to mind. In the end though it didn't matter because she had more to say.

"Well someone's got to watch out for her." She caught herself, she wouldn't dare to speak ill of Thoe. The possibility of him finding out was enough to keep her compliant… Though the more time she spent in this paradise of a world the more she realized how abusive Thoe was towards the both of them. But not everything was as bad as she had originally thought. They had allies on their side.

Rynese and Thylia appeared from the skies, and Celestia had to wonder just where the Harlequins had come from. Jumping up from their already graceful landing and twirling their blades around. Celestia smiled lightly, watching them move was a show of art in it's own. In return they both bowed in unison to her. She blushed, it was very weird for her to be treated to kindly. Both of the women looked through the bush with her, their heads just centimetres apart from one another. They saw that Nova and Thoe were still hugging, taking in the moment of affection that they had not shared in many, many years.

"Thoe is so lucky."

"They will be very happy together." Rynese and Thylia said, finishing each other's thoughts. They stood beside Veron, smiling at Celestia. But the trio were not the only ones watching the turquoise phoenix, far away in a city tower, she had another admirer.

"I would not be so sure…" Veron started . "His energies are unstable.. Sporadic even. Nova is very uncomfortable around him." The note silenced the harlequins who looked at him with curiosity, not realizing that Celestia was keeping silent for a reason.

"Do you think that a Diyazia could fall for a mortal?"

"No other has ever chosen a mate… He is far from a match…"

"He is indeed quite serious and she is… the opposite." They concluded. Veron took a deep breath, choosing not to dwell on it further.

"Stranger things had happened."

"She doesn't love him." All eyes turned to Celestia, she realized that she had just spoken aloud. And it felt good. "And he's trying to change that… he's always trying to convert her." They were surprised, but not totally shocked. It was no secret that Thoe was bred to be hers. "I know Thoe is supposed to be your King and all, he's bred to be the greatest Phoenix that ever lived… but there's a side to him that you haven't seen before." Celestia warned.

"No… we knew of it." Rynese confessed to her. Celestia felt herself calm, they believed her. But… far more than she could ever know. It may have been a long time since Thoe had left… but his legacy was burned into those who bear witness to what happened at the Trial of Champions… and Veron was all too aware.

"Likely we have known it longer than you have, Celestia." Veron confessed. "We had hoped that maybe Nova could change him but… we were wrong. Fear not, you and the Queen will be safe here. Thoe was trained by House Ignitus and we are all too aware of their… techniques." he snarled the last word, and for a second Celestia was afraid of him. He was hiding something as well.

But still she smiled. Veron was not Thoe. "Nova needs time away from him. She needs to be able to get away from him! She needs… she needs to be able to explore and meet more Guardians. Can you do that for her?" She asked. Her bright emerald eyes subtly pleading for their help.

"Absolutely!" Rynese smiled.

"We would love to take the two of you gorgeous ladies out to see Arina." Thylia continued.

"Perhaps take you both to the Arina beaches. Get a nice, sexy Bikini for our Queens to be." Rynese giggled.

"That's enough you two." Veron reprimanded, his voice demanding that they remember who they were speaking to and about. He didn't know how Celestia was going to react, but thankfully, she laughed.

"Just imagine how hot Nova will be when she is fully matured. Nobody will be able to keep their hands off of her." Thylia imagined. Veron grumbled. He didn't like how they spoke of her. It was beneath the Queen, and what she deserved. She was already being married to a man that she didn't love, let alone be ogled by every man that she came across. Veron realized that this too, would present a problem. Perhaps it is time that he put the matter of her protection into his own hands.

He was sure that she didn't mind.


	6. Chapter 5 Part 2

Thoe smiled as she pulled away, and reached for the crown. He moved it away. She looked at him, and then tried to take it again. But he lifted it high to where she could not reach it. "You may have it, if you just speak the words I need to hear…" Nova stood back from him, shaking her head in disbelief. He paused with a malicious smirk on his face.

"What words?" She knew though. But she couldn't believe that this was all another scheme of his. She wanted to believe that this time it was different.

"That you'll be my bride." he reached to her and pulled her into his body. "Just think of it, the perfect Empire ruled by the beautiful, and the most handsome, Guardians."

She wanted to snap at him, to tell him how she really felt, but that would do nothing against him. She kept her composure… but just barely. She pushed herself out of his grip and walked to the shallower part of the pool.

"Thoe please. I will explain this one last time. I am not a prize, or any object that you can posses. I am a woman. A woman who will eventually be a Queen. I do not require a suitor. And as of right now I do not wish to have one." She explained calmly.

There was no question or room for argument in her tone. Yet there in his eyes was his desire to have her. And while she knew that it was not love, he saw it as just that. He stormed over to her and grabbed her wrist. Staring down angrily at her, their eyes meeting and Nova refusing to cowled. He lifted her out, her tail feathers still half submerged, and he got a wince out of her. His grip was so tight that she felt her wrist go numb, her entire arm began to hurt or tingle, the skin twisting underneath his grip… if she were not a Guardian, her wrist would have shattered.

"Don't be stupid, girl." he snarled, his voice low and dominating. Smoke blew out from his nostrils. But Nova felt no fear, it was an old trick that she would never be afraid of again. She glared into his eyes. Once again proving that she would not be cowed so easily.

"You will put me down right now!" she demanded with an ironed authority. Thoe ignored her demand and slung her over his shoulder and began to walk out of the water.

"All of this… ' _freedom_ ' has appeared to have clouded your mind. I will teach you the error of rejecting my offer this time." His voice held some kind of sinister undertone that she picked up on. Her eyes narrowed and she suddenly felt angry. More angry than she had ever before. A flame began to burn in her chest, and she screamed. She screamed her frustration, her anxiety, her fears and her sorrows it all came out at once. A scream that caused the wind to howl, the water to boil, and her body to become inflamed with emotions. She was letting it all out. All the things she had bottled up trying to make Thoe understand how she felt came out as fire and the realm reacted with her. Her eyes began to glow with the untapped power that rested in her soul. Creating a blade of fire and stabbing it into his back. Thoe roared angrily and threw her back into the pool. The massive guardian was more angry than hurt by the attack. His back was already beginning to heal. Nova swam back up to the top and right before him. And Thoe suddenly realized she had no fear of him. Her eyes were alight, and she about ready to release her wrath on him. Now, for the first time in his life, he felt afraid.

Slowly Nova rose from the water. Her eyes and body alight in flame, her fists curled and tight as if ready to hit him, her voice not all her own, and echoed with divine authority. _"You are little more than a child. Perhaps if you were not a Tyrant, my feelings could be different."_ It was a deafening scream that reminded Thoe of a phoenix, and for a moment he wondered if all the wrath of the Diyazia was being brought against him. The water boiled, the grass burned black, and air itself tasted like ash.

She unleashed a wave of sheer force that sent Thoe on his back. Every step responded power, her eyes glowed white with purest light, and she spoke with a voice not totally her own.

 _"You are but a spoiled child, incapable of tolerance or adversity. You will never have all that you want, because you will never be satisfied… you are a twisted, and warped soul. You will never have this vessel, and your aspirations will leave you alone and tormented."_ Thoe was trapped in a cage of light, this was power unlike anything he had ever witnessed. His heart slammed in his chest, and he found that the fire was draining him of his own abilities. Where had this raw energy come from? Was this the true power of the Diyazia blood line? He had never witnessed such intensity before.

 _"_ _Hear the words of your Queen and shudder, you will never be worthy of being at my side. For you are nothing to the Guardians, you are little more than a ruthless Tyrant!"_ The last words were shrieked with a decree. A final ring of fire enveloped Thoe, feeling as though he would die, but then it was over. The grass smoked, singed by fire, and the water still boiled. But in the middle of was Nova. The blinding light had left her eyes and her normal fuchsia colour had returned. He grinned and grabbed her by her shoulder, lifting her to his height.

"You're not the Queen yet Nova. I still have dominion over you. And the Diyazia will never be able to change that. Your link to them is still very, very weak." He said. Nova could hardly keep her eyes open. Her feathers were still radiating heat and energy, but her heart was barely beating. And her eyes hardly flittered. She murmured, fighting to just stay conscious. Her legs numb, and her muscles weak. "Look at you… hardly an ember is left from your 'inferno'." He mocked. Her soul had bloomed to reveal the total power of all Diyazia… and that power could only manifest itself in fire. Thoe knew, because she only had knowledge of that one element. Her soul had overwhelmed her, and burnt her out. "How pathetic you will be, with no knowledge of how to use your own elements… you will disappoint your forebears." And no voices rose to counter him.

"...Your weak little attempt to stop me has done nothing but prove that I am right! You are a weak little bitch and you will do as I command!" He roared. "You will be my wife. You, and this Kingdom, will bow to me!" he voice growled. He tossed her on her back. Knocking the wind out of her. Nova murmured, grasping what was left of the grass.

Then she leaned up, slowly getting to her feet, her legs wiggling, and her breathing weak. She let her own fire return, giving her a small about of energy. She smiled. "You… will never… have control over me." She said grinning holding her arm. Thoe growled again, and stormed into the water. Brushing past her and over to where the crown had been left… Nova could only watch in horror at what he did next.

"Until you are more capable of understanding the circumstance you are in," He paused, picking up the crown and holding it in his huge hands. "You will not be needing this." He raised his hands to the sky, the crown between his palms and crushed it into hundreds of shards. A bright light blinded them both of a moment as the bond behind the crown was destroyed. Nova gasped, and Thoe grinned.

"You… you're nothing but a coward." Nova said softly. Thoe's condescending smile slipped from his beak, still she remained unbroken. The water had begun to boil again.

"You will meet me tomorrow for breakfast. And then we will be begin your training." He ordered. Then he stepped out of the water, steam all around him, and walked away.

"No." She firmly. He paused.

"What was that?" Turning his gaze back at her, anger and disbelief on his expression.

"I will have breakfast with whoever I please, whenever I please." She wanted to say with Veron. As satisfying as it would be to say it. But It would likely be the death of the young Warmaster… if not the whole planet.

"Then be prepared to reap the punishment for your fatuity." He said and continued walking. Thoe brushed past Veron, sneering as he past. Veron leered back silently, murder in his eyes ever as the world was lit aflame where Thoe walked. Thoe decided then and there he would have to break her, body and spirit. Take away everything from her until she would submit to him. Even if it meant the death of everything she held dear… and more importantly, she could not be allowed to communicate with the Diyazia. For through them, she could very well be a threat.

But when he was gone, Veron, Celestia, Rynese, and Thylia rushed to Nova. "What happened?" Celestia asked. Nova suddenly felt weak and nearly fell from her feat. Veron quickly caught her.

"Nova…" he gently lowered her into the black grass and soot, blackening her pristine white robes and red cape. Rynese and Thylia rushed over to the pool and quickly gathered up the shards of the ruined crown that had once belonged to Trymera.

"I rejected him again." Nova said through a sigh.

"Again?" Veron asked. He placed his hand on her and began to give her his powers. Nova felt warm, her strength was beginning to return to her.

"He proposed to me… again." Nova began to explain. When she could move Veron and Celestia escorted her to a cushioned bench near what was left of the warming pool, made of stone and marble with red cushions. The air began to cool as the wind picked up. Twilight was nearly upon them. "And I said no, again." She said. Her eyes narrowed with annoyance and frustration.

Veron looked to Celestia who looked back at him and quickly looked back to Nova. "My understanding was that he was to bring you back to Rynicky, before the council, and then propose to you. If you rejected him, he was to be your Lord Protector… He's decided not to wait?" Veron concluded. He felt disgusted, angry… and disappointed. Suddenly his Master's thoughts were not so cynical after all. Rynese came to sit beside her, holding a bag of what was left of the crown.

"How many times has he asked you?" She inquired softly. Nova took the bag from her softly, at least something of value had been saved from all of this.

"Twice. At least officially. Several other times he asked ...but it was less suitable." She clarified. Veron sighed, every detail of this was making him more and more scornful towards Thoe.

"It takes a strong woman to keep her word, a very noble and honourable thing, your majesty." Thylia said with a proud smile.

"Never allow him to to tell you how to live you life." Rynese finished. Nova's eyes became more alight at the compliments. The Harlequins grinned together, conniving yet another scheme. "Nov…. your majesty, how about we distract Thoe for the night? Allow you time away from him."

"I am sure Veron could take you around Arina…" They said in the same pattern as before. Indeed the two had talents in more than just combat. But the thought of being alone with Veron for a whole day made the young Queen blush.

"I'd love to… but I'm sure that Veron has other, more important things to do." Nova speculated and made eye contact with him. And he had none of the hesitation that she did.

"Nothing is more important than the Queen. I will gladly show you around the Planet. I will need a little bit of time to settle a few matters before we head out." He said with a classic grin. Nova nodded and broke eye contact with him, her cheeks starting to feel warm.

"I'm going to head up to my room until you are ready." She said. She let out a slightly pained sigh as she rose. Her spirit was difficult to break, but things were starting to wear on her. In both mind, and body. Veron had seen Celestia's warning in effect now. He would not let Thoe treat her Nova this way anymore. He would do everything in his power to make her smile… it was a sin how Thoe had treated her. And Nova, seeing him be strong, smiled. Something contagious and even mesmerizing about his smile. He marched off, cape billowing behind him in the other direction to see to his duties… and a few other things for Nova. Celestia turned her heads to the Harlequins, her brow raised slightly.

"How do you intend to distract Thoe?" She asked. Nova had to wonder too. How would one distract someone with a one-track mind? Thylia Giggled while Rynese examined her sword.

"Let's just say… we have a way with men." They said together.

* * *

While Veron prepared, Celestia and Nova sat together in her chambers. Outside the hanging wall garden, a beautiful hotel suit on Ariana just for special guardians, such as themselves. It dangled above the city far, far below them. It's floor planted in gold and plenty of exotic plants were hanging off the walls and the sides of the building. Celestia was smiling, happy that they were getting some much needed time together.

"I'm really proud of you for standing up to Thoe. It takes a lot of courage to stand up against a monster like him." Celestia said with a smile. Nova sighed, her aura was not as radiant as it usually was.

"Thanks… but it's becoming unbearable. I can't do this anymore." Nova stated with a bit of a frown. Her friend sighed, knowing that she really was starting to be worn down. This was not fair… for either of them really.

"We are in the perfect place to ditch him…" Celestia hinted. Nothing needed to be said about how Celestia felt about Thoe. She despised him, but perhaps feared him more than she disliked him.

"As much as I would love to take the easy way out, I'm not running away. I refuse to let him walk all over us any longer." Nova said with frustration. She felt that fire in her soul start to come back, and with it was anger. She stood up suddenly and ripped the vile of her tears from around her neck. She growled and threw it against a potted plant on their windowsill. In seconds light danced around and the flowers bloomed while the plant wrapped itself around the chains that held their garden afloat. Celestia winced. Her tears were too valuable and rare to be thrown away like that. She could heal any living things with them. But she decided not to reprimand her for it though, Nova needed to vent.

"Don't worry about Thoe, alright? We'll make sure that he leaves you alone. Just go with Veron tonight and explore Arina." Celestia said, genuine concern and compassion filled her eyes. She stood up to be level with Nova. "Be free. They'll be time to worry about everything else later." With a smile she hugged Nova. Who sighed and visibly relaxed. Suddenly she had a thought, her face went pale.

"Do you think he knows?"

"Do I think who knows what?" Celestia asked curiously.

"Thoe!... and about… well you know." There was a pause before Celestia replied.

"I don't think so. But it's too early to be able to tell. Nova… please be careful. Don't act on your feelings until you're sure. You have a right to your heart, and you deserve to be happy. But you know how Thoe is… Veron could be hurt if he ever found out. Just wait until we get through this." she urged. Nova nodded but her mind was clouded with thoughts of Veron.

"Do you think I have a chance with him?" She asked. Nova felt a little silly asking. They were childish, and immature questions. She felt like a teenage woman. But she had to know. A part of her burned for what Celestia thought. And her friend let out a small laugh. This all reminded her of when she was on Seva with her sister.

How different the situation had been back then.

"I think out of everyone in the entire Universe, you have the best chance." She said with a wink. Nova was excited that she thought so. She sat in a chair by the window, it was dark outside now and the wind had calmed. The flower began to bloom, with a light glow in the night sky from the moons and the stars. The city became surprisingly busier with the descent of light in the sky, which came light of the city and the bustle of the night life.

"Maybe I just have feelings for him because he's handsome." Nova said. Feeling perhaps a little unsure of why she felt about him the way she did. Celestia shook her head, taking a seat beside her.

"And nice to you, and treats you with respect, and all the other good qualities that a man should have." She teased. "You can't deny or justify your feelings, just go with them." It was encouraging for Nova to know that this wasn't just her. Even Celestia thought like she did about him. Nova couldn't ask for a better friend.

"Thanks Celestia." she hugged her again. "Do you think he knows?" She asked. She knew she was being a little open with her feelings but wondered if Veron really knew how she felt. But before she could answer, her newly enlarged plant rustled and Veron leaped up into their window.

"Do you think who knows what?" he asked. Just below was a large balcony where he must have scaled the wall from. Nova's heart rate increased and she felt the room suddenly get really, really hot. Despite that she recovered and replied without missing a step.

"Oh, I was asking Celestia if you knew about the Diyazia tears." She said smoothly. Celestia shook her head, almost impressed by Nova's wit… almost.

"I know enough to get by. Are you ready your majesty?' he walked over to her and offered his hand to help her up. She took it and smile back at Celestia as they made their way out. He stood by the edge and helped her up. The view down was beautiful to say the least. The clouds were almost blue in the moist, cold night high up in the towers. Nova and Veron felt the wind brush through their feathers. The moons and the setting stars painted a never ending ocean of wonder as they hung in the sky. The bustling city far below them was one with nature. Nova smiled, being connected to a world again, and in a place like this… it was enough to make her forget her woes.

Then Veron leaped. Nova screamed his name, panicking as she looked for him. For a moment she thought she had lost him. Amongst the dark of night and the vastness of the buildings and trees. Nothing.

"Oh please.." she prayed. Then she heard a screech and fell back with a woosh of air. She opened her eyes and felt the soft feathers of a massive bird beneath her. She was flying. They silently circled and landed on the balcony. She opened her eyes at last. Before her was a massive phoenix. His stood nearly five times larger than her, his feathers were lavender and his eyes were bright and blue. His talons were large and black, the balconies ledges were dwarfed before them. They were sharp enough to cut through stone and rip metal apart.

"Veron?" She asked standing up slowly. Her feathers were standing on edge. She felt intimidated by the creature in from of her.

 _-Yes.-_ She heard in her mind.

"How…?"

 _-Every alpha Phoenician is able to learn how to harness enough power to become one with the cosmic energies. Then they can transform into their cosmic form.-_ He started to explain. _-But you are still too young to transform and haven't mastered any of your elements yet. In time, you will be able to take on this form as well.-_ In his eyes he smiled at her. He could see in her soul the energies that she wanted so badly to master. Seeing him like this, she wanted now more than ever to know. She looked up into his eyes and lifted her hand towards Veron. He lowered his head for her to softly stroke his heathers. For a second, Veron closed his eyes and enjoyed the soft touch of her smooth hands against his cheek. He let her continue for a few minutes as he relaxed. But then he quickly remember the influence Phoenician women had on their males… let alone the Queen. A low grumble escaped his beak and his eyes shot open. Nova stood back a little embarrassed and worried that she had done something wrong.

"Sorry." She said, realizing just how she was starting to feel about him. She stood with her hands together and looking up at him. Hoping that she hadn't upset him somehow.

 _-No, it was very relaxing. Thank you.-_ he reassured. He lowered his body near her and nudged her with his beak. _-Climb onto my back.-_ He coaxed, spreading his wings out to feel the wind under them. Nova smiled and slowly climbed through his neck feathers, using his wing as support as she sat on his collar. Finding out how to get comfortable. _-Hold on.-_ But before she could get a good grasp on his feathers he took off. She gasped and buried her face in his feathers. Veron shrieked into the night sky, the only one able to know that he was chuckling at her. _-How are you supposed to see Arina with your eye's closed?-_

It took Nova a few minutes to be comfortable enough to do that. The sudden rush temporarily made her have a fear of heights. But she slowly opened her eyes and sat up. He was right, she was missing so much! What was there to fear? Now that she could see the stars had fully set and the two moons illuminated the night sky with blue and yellow light. The sea of stars up above were so bright that it seemed almost like a blue day. The buildings and nature interlacing as if nature had orchestrated it. Arina was truly the gem that the Guardians preached it to be, and it was even more impressive to Nova that Veron was the one in charge of it all.

They flew for more than hour, allowing the moons to rise higher in the sky. Veron finally descended down to what appeared to be the center of another city. His weight accidentally cracked the stone tiles beneath him. Though he didn't give it a thought. The people stopped to marvel at their Savant, and his young entourage. They applauded, and then bowed to her.

"Your Grace…" One Phoenician warrior approached her and bowed, raising his hands to her and offering her gold. Then another bowed and offered her a handful of gems. It didn't stop with them, some offered flowers and others offered art. Nova was showered in gifts from her people. She quickly became overwhelmed and wondered why they would offer her their possessions. She didn't feel like she deserved them. Nor had she worked for something like their affection. She took a step back. "It's quite fine, I don't need anything. But thank you." She said softly. She wanted to be kind and not make them feel as if she were rejecting them. Veron grunted and burst into flames. A controlled infero took his form. But through the light he was changed back into a mortal form. He stood beside her and tried his best to comfort her with a smile. Her humility inspiring, no other Diayzia would be as humble.

"Your Queen appreciates the gifts, but is humble and does not wish to take your belongings." Veron explained to the crowd. Who seemed content with the news and slowly returned to their duties. Nova looked at Veron, "Thank you, that was a bit overwhelming. Was every Queen greeted like that?"

"I believe so. Trymera's passing was hard on the Empire. Without the Queen the Universe is vulnerable for the time that it takes for another Diyazia to be born. Shadow Creatures become more active in that time. But I think everyone is thankful that you are just as kind and compassionate as she was, perhaps even more so." He paused. "The people feel safe now that you have returned. They all understand and appreciate just who you are and what you sacrifice for them." he explained. They began to walk through the streets with the people. There were no starving beggars or poor that she could see… this world was in a place of harmony.

Soon they came to a massive fountain decorated with images of both Phoenicians and all manner of races holding up each section of the fountain together. Water falling around but not on them, shining coins made of all sorts of elements glittered just beneath the water. Vines grew up to a copper standard that stood high on top. It's symbols representing the Empire. Nova suddenly wondered something.

"What are shadow creatures?" She asked, looking up at Veron. He smiled down at her and sat at the side of the fountain. He realized that Thoe should have long ago explained their existence to her.

"The other half of the Universe if composed of dark matter and dark energy. And as things exist within the realm of Light, so too do things exist within the realm of Dark. But creatures of darkness live in a different way from us, and they are ruled by a Shadow Master. A being of great power who is never of one race or gender. And often, we do not know who he is. From what I know, we are more democratic, but who can really say? Light and dark are opposites." he finished. Nova nodded in understanding, then asked another question.

"Can shadow creatures harm us?"

He sighed with a smile. Why hadn't Thoe informed her of this? "Dark energies work differently than light energy does. Shadow Creatures and their Beasts can infect anything within the spectrum of light, so normal organic life will sadly perish. Dark matter can enslave or manipulate even us normal Phoenicians, but you… too much infection by dark matter can kill you."

Nova's eye's widened, "Why?"

"You are essentially an incarnate of pure light… nothing is more pure or as powerful as you. One tip in the scale in the other direction and that's it for everything within our realm. However, many of the Great Scholars believe that this applies for the Shadow Master as well."

"Wow… I have so much left to learn." Nova admitted feeling embarrassed that she didn't already know all of this. Despite how she felt, Veron continued to smile at her, burning her fears away.

"You've got many more years than I do to learn it all your majesty. But just remember, incase you are ever infected, don't forget about the light flowers. Besides you they are the next best thing to a pure source of light. Find one and it could save your life, and everyone else's for that matter." Nova nodded in understanding, already she had memorized his words. They would never be forgotten. The night continued on like this, he would show her what there was within the city, and tell her of his experience and of those of the Empire she was about to inherit. Until he came to his time growing up in house Ignitus…

"I can't believe that your Lord Protector would treat you the way he has. He's far too serious…" He sat on a park bench and chuckled, looking at her again. "He needs someone to pull that pole out of his ass." he said with his signature grin. Nova giggled and Veron found that she also had a great laugh. "It's not surprising though, House Ignitus is full of jackasses."

Nova gasped and covered her beak. "Veron! Are Warmaster's permitted to use that kind of language?" she teased as his formal tone began to fall away.

"I suppose it is informal of me to use it in front of the Queen, but you seem pretty laid back." he said with a grin. She replied with a shrug.

"Well I think life is too valuable to take things too seriously all the time… so I suppose I am."

"I'm glad Thoe hasn't influenced you in any way." You're strong Nova, never let him in." He said. Nova looked at her hands and blushed, not sure how to reply to him. His hand touched her and she quickly found herself looking back into his eyes. "Has he hurt you?" Nova had to admit that Thoe had never actually hit her, but she felt like it was coming.

"No, but I feel his jealousy growing everyday. He never used to be like this! Back when I was little… he would be so kind and gentle with me. Now… it's like he's obsessed with the crown and doesn't care about how I feel. I don't know what changed." She said suddenly feeling a wave of sadness coming over her. A part of her whispered the reason, he had turned because she stopped being a little girl… and started to become a woman.

"Do you fear that he will hurt you?" Nova nodded sheepishly. Veron took a moment to think and plan what would happen next in his head, and as many possible outcomes as he could.

Thoe was naturally the strongest Guardian in the Empire, even the Elders had difficulty sparring him, he had House Ignitus to thank for his ruthlessness and his strength. Maybe there was a way to calm him down first, reach for his rationale and his sense of honour. If not, Nova would have to be removed from Thoe's reach using whatever means necessary. He couldn't take on the whole Empire by himself. And Veron had the resources and means of making that happen.

"Alright I have a plan. For the next few weeks we'll keep you and Thoe separated. Give him time to cool down, maybe force him to reflect on his actions. We'll bury him in Guardian work, things he has no choice but to attend to if he wants to be King. And trust me, there is a lot of it." he said and winked. 'If that doesn't work… I'll make arrangements for you and Celestia to find a new Lord protector." he said. Nova smiled and nodded, so glad that things were finally going to change for her and Celestia.

"Really? That would be amazing! … Do I get to choose?" she asked, Veron took a moment to look into the fountain and think, how many Guardians were really worthy of being her Lord Protector?

"You will have a choice between two Guardians, Lord Champion Pyren, of House Thylos, and Lord Champion Aldao of House Enzylux. Both of them are a million times better than Thoe, trust me." He assured.

"Oh… alright." She sighed glumly. He looked over to see the disappointment in her eyes. She wanted him to be her Lord Protector. He felt honoured… but unworthy. Regardless of the role he would take in her life, he knew he would make an important one.

"Don't worry, we will get this all sorted out and everything will come together. I promise." He said formally with his most reassuring smile.

* * *

Back where Nova and Celestia were staying, a blue rose had appeared on Celestia's pillow. She came into her room she saw it and gasped. It sung a song of memories long dead and forgotten. It was beautiful. And although she didn't understand what the song meant, she realized that it was important to her past. She examined the rose and smelt it. It had a familiar scent but she couldn't place. It was a comforting one...and… it pulled at her heart strings for some reason. She quickly got a vase and put some water in it placing the rose in it. Once the rose hit the water it started to spark lightning.

Celestia quickly jumped back startled by it. Her heart raced...she wasn't expecting the reaction it gave. After a moment she became frustrated when she realized she couldn't recall the significance of the rose. What did it mean? Why was a huge chunk of her past missing from her memory? She sat on the edge of the bed and started weep softly into her cold small hands. She was never going to figure out what it meant...

Far away, where she could not she, an old lover watched her. Ready to protect her from anything. But unable to reveal himself to her. He did not mean for her to feel pain, he just wanted to give her hope that somebody was watching over her. Perhaps his actions were too severe...he wanted more than anything to help fill those gaps in her memory. But...he feared what would happen if he did reveal himself to her. He would be putting her in more danger than she was already in. He decided that he would stay close...perhaps the time was soon to rekindle what was lost.


	7. Chapter 6

Nova woke with a jolt. Sweat beading her forehead as she suddenly realized that everyone was waiting for her. How long had she been out? Was Thoe able to track her when she slept? Was anything around her real or was this just another dream? Wondering just how deep she was still in her dreams she pulled her sleeve up to look at her arms. Her veins were black. Pulsing against bruised feathers. She was glad that Beltino had at least tried to find a solution for her… as temporary as it was.

Beltino had managed to remove much of the dark matter when she was unfrozen, but like a cancer it was coming back. The Dark matter reflected the will of it's master, it was attracted to her. And slowly it was beginning to take her life. It grew and multiplied within her and showed just how close Thoe was. She rose from the bed, suddenly not so tired and grabbed her necklace putting it up and over her head as the golden chain that at one time held something very valuable to her. She thought that perhaps it was better to lure Thoe in. Try to trick him into believing that she had changed her mind, and then take him down. Though she knew that would never work, because she had tried it once already, and millions had died because of her foolishness.

The biggest concern right now was rescuing Celestia. She was the last friend and only person she could trust and also their only lead, they couldn't afford to lose her. She hoped that she was still alive. Nova reminded herself that Celestia was much stronger than she gave herself credit for, and she had far more friends in the Universe than even Nova knew. Celestia could handle more than a few shadow bests. But a massive one? Or even an army?

There was a knock on her door that pulled her out of her thoughts. Then a small robot appeared with it's hands out to her holding a small wrapped box. She smiled finding it kind of cute.

"Nova Phoenyx, package received from Beltino Toad." It said in a cheery, high pitched voice. Nova hid a light laugh, wondering if this little guy was the cutest thing she had ever seen.

The name caused a bit of curiosity though. _-Pheonyx?-_ she thought. Then she remembered that non-Guardians had surnames in order to distinguish bloodline and heritage. They must have given her one in order to have this sent to her.

The small robot, or was it a drone? Only came up to about her kneecaps, she had to kneel in order to take it from him. "Thanks little guy." she smiled. "What's your name?"

"That's Direct-I." Another voice said, this one also higher pitched, but not synthetic. It was the team's mechanic and primary engineer, a toad that she had yet to have the honour of formally meeting. Nova stood back up.

"Well he's pretty cute." She said and pat him on the head. The little robot let out a high pitched squeal and his pixelated eyes morphed into hearts. He quickly sped away to avoid being embarrassed. His treads left marks on the floor where he sped away. Slippy's eyes went wide as he watched the spectacle take place. Nova giggled.

"He must have a thing for you!" Slippy said with confusion. He hadn't programmed the little A.I. to develop feelings. Where would the admiration end, Nova wondered. Slippy smiled and decided that it was time he introduced himself.

"Fox was telling me about you, Nova. It's good to have you aboard! I'm Slippy, and I believe that you've already met my father." he said with cheer. He reached his hand out and Nova took it for a firm handshake. She had to lean over slightly though because like the robot she was qutie a bit taller than he was. For a moment Slippy found himself mesmerized by her eyes. She was very pretty for an avian, he thought. He wondered what Falco _really_ thought about her.

"It's nice to finally meet you as well, Slippy. I do have your father to thank for allowing to be freed, even though he didn't mean to discover me." She grinned and crossed her arms Slippy looked at the package in her hand.

"What did he send you?" he said. Nova looked it over again and started to peel away the paper.

"I'm not sure…" Under the paper was a small box that she took the top off of, the room was suddenly swimming in blinding light. Slippy covered his eyes and Direct-I hid behind him. When the light dimmed Nova took the gem that laid within, looking it over as it's glow dimmed. She smiled with nostalgia. It now was a pale pink in colour with gold metal twined around it. Slippy wondered just what it was, and remembered reading about one in a book of myths a long, long time ago.

"Is that a memory stone?" The question came as a bit of a surprise to Nova. She thought that no one in this Galaxy even knew what a Memory stone was. She was impressed, glad that she trusted her intuition that he was indeed a clever toad.

"It is….. it's mine, actually." She said as she clipped the small ring on it's top back to her necklace. A sudden feeling of finding something long lost then getting it back came over her. She smiled even more brightly at Slippy. "How long has everyone been waiting on me?" She asked a little embarrassed. Slippy smiled.

"Not long, twenty minutes maybe but they sent me to come and get you. Direct-I saw the package and it just happened that he and I would end up finding you at the same time." Slippy chuckled. She nodded.

"Then can I follow you?" Nova asked. She had a rough idea of where it would be, but this was a chance to get to know another member of the crew better and she wasn't about to pass that up.

"'Course!" he said with a hint of Falco's accent. Inwardly she murmured at his influence over the rest of the crew. "Follow me."

They walked into the briefing room together, Nova now clothed in armour that better suited her and made from the same materials as her original clothing. Fox was already there along with Krystal and Peppy. Direct-I slid under the table looking up at Nova. His eyes still filled with heart shaped pixels but this time they were fluttering. She waved down to him with a flirty smile. He went crazy and sped out of the door at high speed. Krystal giggled at the sight and Fox's ear twitched.

"Looks like you've met Direct-I." Krystal giggled. Nova nodded. There was something about Krystal that removed her from the rest of them. Her blue fur was unusual for lower races, and her poise even in a gruff place like this spoke about a kind of peace that was almost eerie. She new all of them better than perhaps they knew themselves and chose not to say anything. Nova could tell right there and then that Krystal held an unusual genetic mutation amongst all of them, she was psychic. Even to the Guardians such a trait was rare, and though all organics held in them some minor, untapped potential for psychic abilities, Krystal was like a shining beacon in total dark. Likely able to read the minds of everyone before her and not have them even know. A Prodigy, and likely a Savant. Nova decided she needed to get to know her better.

"Nova why don't you brief us on what we are up against?" Fox stated sitting up in his chair. Falco was in the corner leaning back. He barely acknowledged her, making sure to avoid eye contact. Nova stepped forward to the table.

"If we can put all the formalities aside I need to say that none of you have ever gone up against what we will encounter. These are not aparoids. They are not the mindless creations of a mad scientist. These are beings of darkness, who want nothing more than to infect your body and possess your soul. They will charge at you even after you have shot them, they will rip you apart when you cower. They care not for mercy, and they care less for honour. For all beings of Darkness serve one master, and that master wishes for us all to die."

"You mean you…" Falco commented. Nova glared daggers at him, but Fox motioned for her to continue.

"If I go, so does your star and all of the other stars. Life cannot exist as we know it without light. The Universe will be left a cold and dead place." She warned. Fox crossed his arms.

"If we lose just one person, then all of the stars in the Universe go? ...How could that be an advantage to you then? How would anyone be able to survive?" Fox wondered.

"It wouldn't be instant. Have you ever wondered what makes it so that planets that can support life are allowed to? How a star does not simply vanish and die? Or if primordial chaos does not simply destroy it out-right? I am certain that you know of the cycle of star life and death. That cycle exists because of me. Stars are born and die, and when they die out of the remnants a new one is born. They begin to expand and explode and suddenly all of those little odds that nothing bad can happen suddenly become a reality. My existence is what makes the stars consistent enough to warm worlds that can support life. Making the stars a place of safety amongst the Universe. Without me, there is no order, and no way for other beings to survive."

"But… there's no way that you have existed for billions of years." Krystal rationed.

"And you are right. This becomes reality from the death of a forbearer. A being of great power that we refer as a Diyazia. She goes to our star, the largest within the universe, and dies there. Then in the span of a few years another Diyazia takes her place so that the cycle may continue and life may continue to flourish."

"Like the cycle of the phoenix." Krystal mused.

"Exactly. Though if that cycle was ever broken, the stars will become so erratic that no life will survive. Darkness will encroach and black holes as well as other things will consume all of the light until there is nothing left. Worse… do you see how your star has expanded to a deeper shade of red in the last few months? How things seem to be becoming more and more erratic in your system's orbit? A direct reaction to… to my condition." Nova explained. She took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeve, showing her her black veins. Fox uncrossed his arms and leaned forward.

"If this is all true then why is it that only now has darkness decided to infect you?"

"...Because the Shadow Master deigns it to be so. Thoe is more than a rogue phoenix. He's… he's the man that raised me to be his bride." She confessed.

Fox's hair stood on edge, so did Krystal's. Peppy shook his head almost not believing it. Slippy was still impressed by the cycle of the stars and how they related to her...and then Falco just sat there with his arms crossed with a snarl on his beak.

"Thoe was a guardian appointed to be my Lord Protector, and as it is custom amongst my people the first Lord protector is always chosen to go out and find the new Queen when she is born. He then raises her like his own child, offering her compassion and wisdom while she grows. The title of Lord Protector is only given to the most powerful Champions the Guardians have to offer. Unfortunately, his house twisted his mind and turned him into… what he is. They wanted to create a Dynasty though him and in turn create a great King to rule alongside the Diyazia. And at first… he was a good father. But that changed. When I refused to marry him he… he became this." She took off her necklace to reveal the memory stone. Everyone looked at it with awe. Nova placed it on the table as it's ancient powers merged with the technologies and created one of her memories before them. Nova watched as Krystal's face sunk at the scene. Suddenly Nova felt like she knew her… and remembered that she had.

Thoe stood like a giant with things that struck fear in the most primal part of the mortals around her. He was dark and massive. Even as beings with blue fur stood around their Queen, ready to protect her to their deaths, a small part of them felt fear they could not control. She stood behind them, a little blue fox's hand was in hers.

"You dare to build a resistance against the King of the Guardians?!" he voice boomed through the throne room. He leered over her soldiers directly at Nova, eyes filled with both fury and anger. She countered with a glare of her own, her body engulfed in fire while the air beside her swirled with ice.

"You are no King!" She roared back. "You would burn thousands of worlds just to get to me? Countless lives have been lost due to your jealousness and greed! You are unworthy of such a title!" she roared, her army being inspired by her words. Spears were arced right at Thoe and his beasts, bows and arrows as well as great sorceries glowed with radiating power. The warriors fuelled by the words of their Queen. Thoe smiled, a low, sinister laugh left his sharp black beak.

"Foolish little girl." he grumbled.

"All of these lives have been lost because of you!"

Then the scene ended. Nova didn't want to share what happened next. Silence pervaded the room for a few minutes. Krystal was stricken. That memory… Fox took a deep breath and broke their fear. "We are dealing with a true monster then." He said.

"He will suffer for what he did to Cerinia." Krystal whispered. Falco nodded and Slippy looked at all of them. A whole planet, burned and blackened. Suddenly, for at least for two of the people in the room, this was personal. They heard the reactor's core hum a little lighter, they were slowing down. Now was the time for vengeance.

They came out of orbit moments later. Nova and the others viewing the debris field from the space station in the chamber. Peppy and Rob had moved to the front of the ship in order to begin formulating a long range strategy. When the full image came into view they couldn't make out that much of the station. It looked as if it was no longer made of metal at all, but a solid, tree like substance. It chilled even Nova.

"What could have done that?" Slippy asked, giving voice to their thoughts. They entered a fine mist that must have been what was left of the stations inner atmospheric pressure. Fox leaned forward, it looked like a massive tree had grown around the hull of the space station and slowly began to grow outwards. The monitors detected smaller things crawling all over the surface of what was left of Bookworm's Hideaway.

Falco narrowed his eyes, he could see that just barely the black outer layer of whatever they were looking at was moving slightly with a pulse. It was alive. "Is that thing…?"

"A creature of darkness." Nova confirmed. "Like a tumor, it has grown and infected everything around it to build itself into what you see before you now. It will use what is left of the station as it's bones. In time it will become a monster strong enough to devour worlds, and blot out stars."

"And you have a friend deep in there somewhere." Peppy said worriedly over his link to them. All of them, even Falco, looked at her. She nodded, not allowing her fears to get to her now. The truth was that she didn't want to believe that Celestia could be dead. She needed to have her by her side.

"Then we're wasting our time." Fox said and pushed himself off of the table. "Slippy, get the arwings primed for launch."

"You gotta be kidding me." Falco scoffed. "Look at that thing! Do you really think that anyone's still alive in there?" he interjected.

"Did I just hear the sound of Falco Lombardi backing down?" Krystal taunted. Falco slowly turned to face her with slow, vicious leer. Yet she didn't show any signs of backing down to him. She crossed her arms stared right back at him with a grin on her face. Nova was learning to like her more and more by the second.

"We go in guns blazing, likely this thing already knows we're here and is ready for a fight. We need to do as much damage as we can while we still have the advantage of distance between us. Once we find a weakness, we exploit it. Peppy, once it's safe bring the Great Fox in closer so we can take on survivors. No need to test the accuracy of the teleporter unless totally necessary." Fox ordered. "Nova…" he said, she turned to face him. "We'll be launching you in last. I can't afford to have you trapped in a malfunctioning part of the station with no back up. Assist Peppy and Rob with weapons." Nova grunted, she didn't like the idea of someone else fighting her battle for her, but she nodded her head.

"Understood." She replied. Fox grinned before leaving the debriefing room.

"I'll make sure you're the first one in."

The four arwings launched into the debris field going full speed. Gases left over from the station burning against the tip of their wings. Lasers charged and shields sparked into existence. The Great Fox was full ahead and right behind them, their shot lined up and awaiting Fox's command. When Fox silently ordered for his team to open fire the Great Fox unleashed a payload with enough force to break through the most dense of dreadnoughts. Super-combined explosions and waves of lasers, plasma, and torpedo fire impacted against the monstrosity. But when the chaos faded away only small chunks had been removed from the outer layer of the creature. They had only scratched it. Fox snarled. Suddenly the four fighters found themselves pulling up and flying along the edge of the station. Holes ripped open by tentacles and black portals unleashed the beasts in retaliation.

The fight had begun. The four arwings split apart and took as many of the drones as they could, firing wildly and dodging whatever it was that was being thrown at them. "Anything yet Peppy?" Fox asked over the comm.

"Conventional weapons are useless against that hull. We need to use a heavier weapon." Another massive explosion crashed a giant the hull of the station before Fox, incinerating another swarm but otherwise only melting the metal around the trunk. Fox fired at the trunk out of frustration but only attracted the attention of the horde. Things like bloated insects clung to his canopy. He quickly barrelled them off but they were coming back quick. Krystal flew in front of him, her shields taking another hit. She muttered profanity and fired into a weaker looking tentacle, severing it and seeing several smaller ones push their way out.

She tried to push her mind into the creatures. The screams of thousands of agonized voices met her, angry at her intrusions and roaring in protest. She yelled in her cockpit and quickly pulled her presence away from it.

"This… Thing…" she mumbled weakly. Slippy came to her wing and suppressed any attacks that would be coming her way. The two of them fired full ahead and fired into a fleet of dark insects, leaving blackened ichor in space, splashing on their shields and burning them away. Quickly Krystal pulled up and away from the station.

But Slippy shifted his fighter into a walker. Firing at the horde of bug-like monstrosities around him. He charged ahead, but the ship lurched and screeched as gyros ceased to move. A tentacle had grown around his left leg. Suddenly more erupted around him. He fired his cannons and tried to leap… but there were too many.

"Falco!" he cried. The ace pilot fired a nova bomb and burned away his foes. But instead of flying away Slippy fired more so into the trunk and the smaller dark like trees that had begun to spout on it. Burning it and making the ichor under it's skin pulse quicker. He stung it and hopped back, keeping his eyes on his surroundings. He fired into the surrounding foes keeping them distracted while Krystal and Falco fired into the mob. Fox saw the strategy but ultimately it wasn't working fast enough. If they didn't find a solution and fast, they would be overwhelmed.

"Fox this thing's impervious to everything we throw at it." Falco noted over the comm.

"Keep covering Slippy we might have something." Fox commanded. "Slip…"

"I'm way ahead of you Fox." Slippy said and inside of the legs of his walker two torpedo pods protruded and armed with Mega-grade nova bombs. Their one last chance. Krystal and Falco herded at many of the defenders together as they could get and shot back. Slippy jumped up into space, slowly he drifted up, even as the black clouds neared. He typed another command. "Just a little closer…" Fox barely dodged a chunk of debris but was hit by enemy shot. It ate through his hull and he started to smoke before his ship self-repaired. Pulling away just in time to dodge a small drifting black hole.

Slippy gasped and launched his six torpedoes below him. The combined explosion blinded all four of them.

Nova watched the impact and clenched her beak. Those were the heaviest payload that the Arwings could dish out. The megaton explosion was so bright that not even their shaded canopy could darken enough for them. When they could see it again Nova realized the damage was less than they had hoped for. The enemy was scarred, and the impact had left a crater that had melted into glass. The whole statin seemed to be writing in pain from the blast… but Nova was not looking at the aberration itself…

"Damn it!" Fox yelled.

"We've done some kind of damage to it though." Krystal said. Slippy formed up on Fox's wing with the rest of them.

"But not enough to make a real difference. This thing's taken the worst we can throw at it and we've barely hurt it!" Falco said and Nova had to agree. As soon as the debris had passed the station's maws were opened wide and still more creatures escaped and swarmed all over them. They were loosing. A minefield of tentacles that grew from the hull of the station grabbed at them, and globs of black pus grew from them like pollen. Now they were in a minefield as well as a battlefield. Nova thought it looked a bit like a corrosive swamp. She watched them fire, evade, and repeat. They're attacks were uncoordinated and worse, none of them were communicating.

"Communications are jammed between arwings and the Great Fox. Unable to communicate with Star Fox." Rob said. Nova shook her head, angry that all she could do was watch. When suddenly she had a thought. She glimpsed back to where the swamp was originating, the puss and ichor ran from the chunk in the roots of the shadow beast. And still the burns were left over from the explosion, glowing. It made her wonder…

"Peppy, what does that look like to you?" She asked and pointed at the last point of attack.

"What?" Peppy asked.

"That. The impact left over by the bombs." She clarified and pointed. The insects and most of the other dark life forms were staying clear away from it as well. What had been left behind was burning embers, and with them, light. Could she mimic that on a greater level? Could she make light bombs? "Please tell me we have something like the nova bombs aboard this ship?" She asked, the old hare smiled.

"I need you to arm just a couple of the payloads, and only launch them on my mark." She bolted out of the command room before Peppy could reply and made her way through the front of the ship. Alarms were ringing loudly while the ship was hit again and again by volleys of enemy fire. Worse, things were beginning to burrow through the hull and the combat drones couldn't get them all. Nova ignored all of it. Her knee high boots clicking lightly on the deck, where she was alone. Except for the dark.

 _I see you…_

Thoe called to her. Her heart skipped a beat but she pushed her fear out. Coming to a stop in the elevator she typed in the level of the arming room and descended quickly. The chamber was located almost thirty levels below the command deck but it took only three seconds to make it there. The hatch opened to where the arming chambers diverged and she choose the first one she saw. High above she saw the barrels that made up the Great Fox's impressive omega cannons and the many torpedo chambers by or below it. Thick, quick moving arms made of metal and wires repeatedly moved through the deck as torpedoes were selected and armed within launching tubes and their firing mechanisms. Nova stopped before tube 'B-43' and typed in a manual command for it to shut down. An impact rocked the ship and cut power to the lights for a second.

For those brief moments the light was gone, and a silhouette of something monstrous and towering behind her. Then when the light returned it was gone. If it were one of the mercenaries he'd still be there. She knew all too well that Thoe was watching her but was he really that close?

"B-43' and B-44' were set to manual and Nova opened the firing mechanisms. Two newly made warheads sat inside of them. Yield and arming specifications ran over it's self propelled shell. She took a deep breath. "Okay…" She paused, and pushed her hand against the cold metal and pushed. She found that small, untouchable bit of light in her heart and channeled it into the torpedo. After a few moments it began to glow. The glow continued to build until it was radiant like gold and soon it was brighter than the red lights of the room. Nova smiled, she had done it.

She slammed the hatches shut, and opened up her holo screen directly to Peppy. "Fire away!" Peppy typed in the command, and the two torpedoes were launched. Nova and Peppy watched as they sped through the void and detonated against the skin of the tree-like monster. Krystal, who was the only one who could hear the many agonized voices within the husk, and for a moment could hear them all call out as light detonated against its hull and nearly split the whole thing in half. "We got it!" Suddenly she could hear them in her earpiece again.

"Nova, however you managed to do that, do it again!" Fox commanded over his communicator. Nova let herself smile, and opened up four pods this time, each one was infused with her light, and were fired. The creature before them had no chance now. The arwings flew back to fire at the insects digging into the hull of the Great Fox, and soon, what was left faded as the outer appearance of the tree-like monster ceased to move within the void… but it was not dead.

"Seems that the creature is regenerating…. Fox it's now or never." Slippy said. Fox nodded and thought it over. He thought about the survivors that could just be aboard that ship, and he thought about how it would be safer for all of them if they just blowed the entire station to rubble…

"Nova, how you can you be sure that Celestia is still alive?" he asked her.

"I just know." Was all Nova replied, even as she lit the last of the torpedoes in the bay area. Fox didn't like her answer… but ultimately, he was here because he had been hired to aid her. With a lot of regret, he ordered the four team members to start to make their way toward the station. Nova following close behind in a pod.

Nova was the first one in like Fox promised. Her pod smashed through the hull of the space station and broke into the blackness. Tall manner of gasses and debris flying out the hole while the inside of her pod pressurized and she prepared. The seals on her helmet hissed closed, air pumping right in front of her beak. Then the seals on her prod slowly opened, exposing the white, almost clear gases within her pod to the void of space. Her first boot touched the ground, but she could hear no sound. Space battles were always an experience for her, where she would have to rely more so her technology, and her wicked sixth sense to see and hear the enemies coming before she saw them.

The others weren't too far behind. Unlocking a hatch to the outside and parked their arwings around the entrance, leaving the engines on idle for a quick getaway. Fox was the first one to exit his ship, the other following suit in unique armour that fitted each them. The only similarity between the four members was the silver and blue scarfs they all wore around their necks. Hanging off their left shoulder and dangling between the armour that protected their shoulder blades. Falco drew a shot gun, scoping out the area ahead with his cloak on, invisible even in the dark. Nova assumed that he would be acting as a vanguard… great. They'd be stuck together.

"Slippy, think you can access the power grid to this place?" Fox asked his small green friend, the most heavily armored and also holding the largest gun. With his free hand he looked at a chart of what Nova could see where wavelengths and different spectra. There was a pause as the little toad thought about his answer, and gave a half nod to Fox.

"If you can get to one of the power junctions over the whole ship, then I can reroute power to the lights, maybe computers if we're lucky. But…"

"We might lose gravity." Nova finished, Slippy turned to her, the tone in his voice one of shock, "Yes… in fact that is exactly it. How did you know that?" he asked her. She couldn't help but feel proud for quickly learning their language.

"It's how this place is set up, the wiring, the lack of power, and the vibration of the hum just beneath out feet. The gravity diffuser on this station must either be damaged, or perhaps only a few of the machines themselves are still functional." She explained. Slippy was impressed. He was very impressed. He nodded to Fox.

"Then we have a destination. Slippy, set waypoint. Nova, take lead with Krystal."

+ _Now you've impressed them_.+ Nova shuddered at the voice, thinking at first it was Thoe again, but she was eased by the tone, which wa female, and soft. Krystal nodded to her, this was the first time she got a look at her. Krystal was a master vanguard, Nova could tell that immediately. With her lightning spear's blue anti-matter blade, and thin, agile armour, she made for an intimidating sight. Her helmet's mask also seeming to give off an aura of fear, she held her spear in an offensive combat stance ready to strike or parry. The glowing blade angled at the ground while she went before the others. Nova herself came up beside her, her hands ready to unleash waves of fire at anything that even looked like a threat. She was happier to have Krystal beside her, not Falco. Having him in her sights would be preferable but she wouldn't push her luck. Even as they ran further into the black hauls of the ship, Nova could start to feel the presence of dark creatures infest even the void around them. The others had all brought up their night vision, allowing them to see, but Nova didn't need the help of her visor, her eyes could see as clear as day.

And in the dark, things began to shift and move around them. Nova could feel it, the others were more on guard, their discipline being eaten away. Their minds untrained to the dangers that awaited them the further they got in. She hoped that she hadn't loured them to their deaths. Then, the metal hulls of the ship began to change, and warp, soon thick, pulsating things, warm to the touch and moist with black water pulsed and dug into the ship. Like roots. And things started to move around them.

+ _It knows we're here_.+ Krystal thought to them. The others more on guard now, and something deeper in went off, it was loud, there were yells. One of them belonged to a woman. Celestia.

Like a forest or a monster everything shook and came to life, metal screamed as it was turned and shredded. Creatures began to stir on the walls. Things that looked alive once. Their skin and bones breaking, it sounded like wet paper being ripped. At first, they lumbered like the walking dead, but their forms became surrounded in black smoke. Some became massive like apes, think logs for limbs and sold piercing screams, other thin and tall with long protrusions in their arms to fire… or stab. They all charged at them, most, right at Nova.

Then something happened that Nova did not expect, something that she had never experienced before. Every creature of light, no matter how small, gives of light in their soul, it radiated about them. The greater the act, the more they shined, and only she could see it. Right now, they were like a bonfire.

"Open fire!" Fox yelled, his assault rifle cut down the masses before him. Falco fired off his shotgun, blowing holes into the dark creatures and carburizing them with the small flamethrower attached to the muzzle. Slippy, with his oversized four barreled railgun, suited up, and let the rails fly. The first wave was knocked over immediately, torn apart quicker than Nova could imagine. Black ichor sizzling against her and Krystal's shields. The blue vixen was in a low stance, her loose hand making a four point as she balanced her light weight on three fingers, her feet just touching the ground. Her spear, tilting and ready for the joust, like a hunter, she leaped forward, slicing through an ape. Then another. They were like butter to her. Her movements were quick, and her aim true.

She was using her psychics to break them before they could see her. Their every thought, or impulse was known to her just as soon as it came to them. As mindless as they were. Nova could feel her own heart swell, these were not just some band of mercenaries around her, these were heros. She grinned, her arms becoming laced with dark purple and blue fire unlike she had ever controlled before. Her beak held a grin of superiority. With one, strong balst, the darkness was consumed by the raw power of her light. Everything before her was burned to ash and white coal, and the others charged ahead.

Somewhere, deep in this ship, was her friend, and they were going to get her, and take her out.

Surrounded on all sides, Celestia raised a wall of shining blue ice to catch her breath. She kneeled down, expending a burning cylinder from her pistol and loading another one with fluency. Her breaths came in ragged pants, and her heart raced. She didn't think she was going to get out of this alive. Black pus streamed against her barriers, the men and women around her were fighting valiantly, their weapons steaming with heat.

"Real it in Ice Queen." Her closest companion fired his plasma grenade launcher and killed six more of the weaker dark creatures. Even as he pulled into cover another soldier fell to the ground, her shrieks of pain ringing in Celestia's ears. Ice flooded around them, her frost and a thin mist surrounded them. Celestia could see her boots still twitching with convulsions, red, fresh blood flooding around her. Thick lines of black running with the blood, infesting her. Making her one of them.

No matter how hard Celestia tried, she would never forget that.

"Ease up!" Greyous yelled, she was snapped out of her trance and pulled out of cover, firing rounds from her pistol infused with the powers of her very being. Many of the abominations kept coming, even with frozen limbs and mangled torsos. The larger ones wallowed on two legs, massive bloodied weapons that leaked ichor were held at their sides. The smaller ones like spiders, grubs, and all sorts of things from her nightmares rushed. They ate at her bullets and her ice powers. One lunged at her, it's two arms like sharpened logs and two hind shoulder arms slashed at her. Quickly Celestia created a shield of ice and blocked, the force bringing her to her knees.

The creature roared at her, it's scream of agony and anger sending tendrils of black saliva steaming against her frozen amour. With her eyes half opened she fired what remained of her clip into the Shadow Beast's chest and chin. Giving her the second she needed to pull away and lung what was left of her shield into it's chest. It did not get back up. It's remains slowly decayed within the black wood and pulsing shadows around her. She took one step back, regaining her composure.

Celestia realized at last that this is where she would die. Here in that dark, alone. She had failed. Nova would be recovered by Thoe. Finally, at the moment they could be face to face, even if it were from in between a view-screen, she got to see her closest friend. She backed away slowly. Greyous offering her cover fire as she lunged over their barricade. He pulled back to reload.

"Got any more tricks up your sleeve?" The large hound asked her. Greyous was her squadmate, a Sergeant among Corneria's elite commando group who called themselves Ghosts. And all around them lied her old squad mates. Celestia never really knew any of them… any promises she had made to change that were quickly forgotten. Celestia shook her head and launched a blizzard of needles. Killing all of the smaller abominations between them. They started to back off, most of them. The larger ones shook the room, even cornered and alone in the dark Celestia and Greyous could see them. Then all sound died away.

Things slowed down for her. Space and time lost all meaning. A cold, dark feeling crawled into the pit of Celestia's stomach. Something deep inside of her knew told her a something. A dark, dark but honest thing. Something that she was not ready to come to terms with. And Greyous knew it. With a smile, the Doberman nodded his head, and took of his helmet. Silently, he rose in the dark, the lights on his shoulders blinking alive. There they were, mounds of dead flesh soaked in black blood. Roots like a tree for legs that slithered all around like spiders. Thousands of eyes and a hundred of screaming faces within the wood of their bodies. Nightmares made real. Celestia wanted to say something. To reach out and stop Greyous. But some dark thing whispered in her ears and controlled her. Black veins crossed throughout her body and let out a silent, wallowing scream of self pity that bathed in her helplessness. She was a little girl again, and her father was beating her mother before her and her sisters eyes. An old memory. Behind her black eyes she looked on to Greyous.

He ripped his helmet off, and he lunged ahead, firing wildly at one of the brutes. Until finally his rifle rang empty. The nightmare grabbed him, one arm around his rifle, and the other around his torso. Greyous knew what would happen next. He had comes to terms with it. Celestia could only stand there frozen in wallowing self-pity. Watching behind her veiled eyes as her one last friend… the last she would ever see, was ripped apart.

His arm went first, and he screamed in agony as the nightmare was doused in his blood. Then slowly, it ripped his torso from his legs. The shock of it all became something Celestia would force deep down in the dark. Where she could suppress it, and pretend it never happened. She shed a black tear. His screams far worse that of her ruthless father. Greyous, his blue Doberman eyes, gazed at her one last time through the agony. A wraith standing behind him held his scythe at bay. Celestia could see it there, in the darkness. But she was the only one in the room who could. His mouth bent into smile. Weak, hardly noticeable to anyone but a close friend. Greyous held his belt in his one working arm, six Nova grenades primed to explode.

Celestia heard his last words. And they would echo with her until the day she died.

 _"_ _Don't let them control you."_

Then her world was lit ablaze in a sickening array of colours. One nightmare's life was ended. It's sick mockery of tree and flesh tumbled over as it burned. The stench of burned skin and dead wood, burned with ozone, filled her nostrils with the black smoke that surrounded her. Celestia gave into her dark emotions. They consumed her. Her world became blacker than the darkest abyss, and here she was alone. Safe from whatever nightmare would try to murder her.

Here, her friends couldn't be taken away. Nerezza was by her side. Here, she was safe. Here, the darkness would consume her and hide her from herself. But amidst all the cold and the silence, a small sliver of light shined. Then four more. Smaller, weaker, but together they kindled, and burned. They inched together, radiant and blinding to her black eyes. The sounds of heroes and courage raged in the darkness. Here she was safe, here, there was peace. This is what is like to die.

But in the light, where life struggled to ignite, Celestia could hear the sound of an old friend. Her fire awakened by the light of four souls. Nova was closer now than Celestia realized. And in her heart some form of hope came. Suddenly the world was not so black after all.


End file.
